LIFE    IN    NEW    BEDFORD 
ONE  HUNDRED  YEARS  AGC 


:tvia 


/<&/ 


From  a  portrait  owned  by  Mrs.  Morgan  Rotch. 


LIFE  IN  NEW  BEDFORD 
A  HUNDRED  YEARS  AGO 

A  Chronicle  of  the  Social,  Religious  and 
Commercial  History  of  the  Period  as  re- 
corded in  a  Diary  kept  by  Joseph  R. 
Anthony 


EDITED  BY 
ZEPHANIAH   W.   PEASE 


Published  under  the  auspices  of 

The  Old  Dartmouth  Historical  Society 

By  George  H.  Reynolds 


Published  and  Printed  by 
GEORGE    H.   REYNOLDS 

Cor.  of  William  and  Second  Sts. 
New  Bedford,  Mass. 
1922 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  picture  most  familiar  to  the 
people  of  New  Bedford  is  that  of 
"Main  Street,"  now  Union  street,  a 
lithograph  reproduced  from  a  paint- 
ing by  William  A.  Wall.  It  affords  a 
glimpse  of  the  most  pretentious  neigh- 
borhood in  the  town  as  it  existed  a 
little  more  than  a  century  ago.  Once 
the  picture  adorned  about  every  home 
in  the  village.  When  the  period  of 
the  chromo  came  the  old  prints  were 
displaced  and  many  were  destroyed. 
Within  a  few  years  old  prints  have 
come  in  vogue  and  the  old  New  Bed- 
ford picture  is  eagerly  sought. 

The  print  reveals  in  the  foreground 
William  Rotch  in  a  chaise,  the  only 
one  in  the  village  at  the  time,  a  vehi- 
cle said  to  have  been  imported  from 
England.  Along  the  street  is  a  r,ow  of 
buildings,  a  store,  a  blacksmith  shop, 
the  town  pound,  and  last  in  the  line, 
the  old  mansion  of  William  Rotch, 
surrounded  by  a  garden,  with  poplar 
trees  along  the  roadside. 

A  few  traditions  came  down  of  so- 
cial events  in  that  early  day,  such  as 
the  visit  of  John  de  Marsiellac  from 
Languedoc,  who  read  the  petition 
from  William  Rotch  to  the  national 
assembly  of  France  in  reply  to  which 
Mirabeau,  the  president  of  the  French 
national  assembly,  made  a  beau- 
tiful apostrophe  to  the  Quakers 
— "I     was     present,"    wrote    William 


Logan  Fisher  in  a  manuscript 
still  in  existence,  "when  he  alighted 
from  the  stage  at  William  Rotch's 
door  and  remember  the  earnest  kisses 
which  he  bestowed  upon  the  cheeks 
of  that  venerable  man.  There  was 
General  Lincoln  of  Revolutionary 
memory  who  received  the  sword  of 
CornwaHis  and  led  him  out  as  a  pris- 
oner at  Yorktown.  There  was  Count 
Rochambeau  Liancourt,  Peter  Grant 
of  Italy  and  many  others. 

The  meagre  records  and  traditions 
familiar  to  those  who  love  the  fasci- 
nating history  of  the  rare  old,  fair  old 
golden  time,  served  to  excite  curiosity 
for  further  knowledge  of  the  men  and 
women  of  the  village  period.  As  we 
have  looked  at  the  stately  Dutch  cap 
mansions,  indicative  of  caste  and  dis- 
tinction, there  has  come  eager  curi- 
osity for  intimate  knowledge  of  those 
who  laid  the  corner  stone  of  the 
structure,  their  social  and  business 
life,  their  joys  and  sorrows.  We  have 
craved  to  participate  in  an  adventure 
such  as  Le  Sage  depicted  in  Asmodeus' 
flight.  In  the  tale,  "Le  Diable  Bor- 
teaux,"  "The  Devil  On  Two  Sticks," 
the  spirit  liberated  from  a  bottle, 
takes  Don  Cleofas  along,  unroofs  the 
buildings  of  a  great  city  and  enter- 
tains his  companion  with  glimpses  of 
those  within,  revealing  their  suffer- 
ings,   transports   and   agitations. 


[   3   ] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


Asmodeus  is  a  spirit  of  disrepute 
but  his  facilities  for  getting  about 
were  highly  developed.  By  a  fortu- 
nate §et  of  chances  we  are  now  en- 
abled to  unroof  the  patrician  homes 
of  the  village  in  a  high  and  far  off 
time  when  "all  things  in  order  stood," 
as  pictured  in  the  old  prints,  "a  haunt 
of  ancient  Peace,"  and  look  in  upon 
the  life  of  the  cultivated  men  and 
women  of  their  day  with  almost  the 
intimacy  acquired  in  the  celebrated 
flight  of  Asmodeus. 

The  opportunity  to  unveil  this  story 
of  the  social,  business  and  religious 
life  of  this  community  a  hundred 
years  ago,  comes  through  the  decision 
of  the  custodians  of  a  diary  kept  by 
Joseph  R.  Anthony  in  the  years  1823 
and  1824,  to  permit  its  publication. 
The  diary  is  now  in  the  custody  of 
Mrs.  Josephine  Grinnell  Rotch,  the 
widow  of  Morgan  Rotch,  a  daughter 
of  J.  G.  Grinnell.  Hitherto  the  read- 
ing of  the  diary  has  been  limited  to  a 
few  associated  with  the  families  most 
intimately  concerned.  The  value  of 
the  record  was  recognized  as  of  ex- 
ceeding historical  interest,  which 
might  one  day  be  published.  But  it 
has  been  withheld  from  the  public 
because  being  of  so  personal  a  nature 
it  was  feared  that  breaking  the  seal 
might  give  offence  in  some  quarter. 
The  time  has  arrived  when  there  is 
not  a  direct  descendant  living  in  New 
Bedford  of  Mr.  Anthony,  who  wrote 
the  diary. 

The  diary  was  kept  by  Joseph  R. 
Anthony,  who  was,  in  1823,  when  the 
record  commences,  26  years  old.  Mr. 
Anthony  was  employed  at  that  time 
in  the  counting  room  of  the  Rotches. 
Later  in  life  he  built  the  mansion  of 
stone  on  the  estate  which  stretches 
for  a  block  on  Orchard  street,  now 
owned  by  Miss  Julia  Delano.  The 
record  nearly  fills  two  leather  bound 


books.      It   commences   on   January   1, 

1823,  and    it    ends   on    September    30, 

1824.  When  Moses  H.  Grinnell  died 
in  New  York,  these  diaries  were 
found  among  his  private  papers.  The 
Grinnell  family  recognized  the  im- 
portance of  the  annals.  It  was  felt 
by  the  family  of  Mr.  Grinnell  that 
the  diaries  should  be  returned  to  New 
Bedford  because  of  the  importance 
they  were  bound  to  take  in  the  his- 
torical archives  of  this  community. 
At  that  time  a  son  of  Joseph  Anthony, 
the  writer,  Rowland  Anthony,  was 
living  and  to  him  was  given  the  cus- 
tody. William  W.  Crapo,  among  other 
friends  of  the  Grinnell  family,  was 
privileged  to  read  the  diaries  and 
recognized  their  unique  interest  and 
value  as  history.  It  now  seems  to 
Mr.  Crapo  that  sufficient  time  has 
elapsed  to  avoid  the  possibility  iof 
wounding  the  sensibilities  of  any  per- 
son now  living  by  the  publication  of 
these  personal  experiences  of  a  hun- 
dred years  ago,  and  it  is  through  his 
intercession  that  the  custodians  of  the 
diaries  have  permitted  their  publica- 
tion. 

The  Anthony  diaries  are  somewhat 
unusual,  inasmuch  as  they  are  not  so 
much  a  personal  legend  of  Mr.  An- 
thony's experiences  as  they  are  a 
record  of  daily  events  in  town  and 
country.  The  Adamses  and  other 
famous  diarists  of  that  period  kept  a 
daily  chronicle,  but  it  was  written 
around  their  personal  movements. 
Mr.  Anthony's  record  is  as  imper- 
sonal for  considerable  periods  as  a 
ship's  log  book,  although  it  is  not  car- 
ried to  the  exasperating  degree  of  per- 
sonal suppression  that  distinguishes 
log  books.  But  that  Mr.  Anthony  was 
in  touch  with  log  book  literature  is 
indicated  by  the  fact  that  he  often 
employs  the  vernacular  of  log  books, 
as  in  the  final  entry  of  1823 — "So  ends 


[  *  ] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


this  year."  There  is  no  introduction  to 
the  first  volume  which  is  brought  to 
light.  For  anything  that  appears  Mr. 
Anthony  had  kept  a  diary  habitually. 
And  it  is  brought  to  a  close  on  Sep- 
tember 30,  1824.  There  are  many 
blank  pages  following  the  last  entry 
in  the  second  volume.  It  is  strange 
that  a  writer  who  had  kept  a  diary  so 
persistently  and  faithfully  for  this 
period  should  suddenly  cease,  without 
written  explanation.  If  there  had 
been  laspes  before  the  last  entry  it 
might  have  been  surmised  that  Mr. 
Anthony  had  wearied  of  his  under- 
taking or  that  other  activities  en- 
grossed him.  but  the  final  record  ,of 
September  30  is  written  in  great  de- 
tail. 

A  theory  regarding  these  two  vol- 
umes of  records  which  may  account 
for  the  circumstances  of  the  abrupt 
ending,  has  been  suggested.  Moses 
H.  Grinnell,  a  young  man  of  twenty  at 
this  time,  worked  in  the  counting 
room  of  the  Rotches,  along  with  Mr, 
Anthony.  Moses  was  Joseph's  most 
intimate  friend.  He  was  engaged  to 
Susan  Russell,  a  sister  of  Joseph's 
wife.  He  sailed  from  New  Bedford 
October  21,  1823,  on  a  voyage  to 
South  America,  Mediterranean  and 
Baltic  ports.  "For  the  first  time  in  my 
life,"  wrote  Joseph,  "a  tear  moistened 
my  eye  on  parting  with  a  friend.  For 
nearly  five  years  he  has  been  my 
companion  in  the  counting  room  and 
endeared  himself  to  me  so  much  that 
I  can  truly  say  I  felt  for  him  all  a 
brother's  love.  He  goes  from  here  to 
Pernambuco  and  from  thence  up  the 
Mediterranean  to  Trieste  and  will  be 
absent  from  eight  to  ten  months." 
Mr.  Crapo  conceives  that  Mr.  Anthony 
kept  this  journal  for  Moses  Grinnell. 
This  view  is  supported  by  the  ending 
of  the  diary  in  1824,  coincident  with 
the  return  of  Moses.    It  was  not  feas- 


ible to  keep  a  world  traveler  in  touch 
with  home  matters  through  the  med- 
ium of  letters  in  that  day.  There  were 
no  local  newspapers,  and  Mr.  Crapo 
is  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  arranged 
that  Joseph  should  keep  this  journal 
that  Moses  might  be  informed  minute- 
ly of  all  the  happenings  in  the  town 
in  his  absence.  Another  theory  is  that 
Mr.  Anthony  kept  a  diary  habitually 
and  turned  over  the  two  volumes 
covering  the  period  to  Moses  on  his 
return — that  the  other  diaries  were 
destroyed  and  that  Moses  preserved 
ithe  only  exhibits  of  Mr.  Anthony's  in- 
dustry. 

Moses  Grinnell  was  a  son  of  Cor- 
tnelius  Grinnell.  The  trip,  upon 
which  he  was  starting,  was  made 
to  assist  him  to  fulfill  his  ambition 
(to  become  a  great  merchant.  He  was 
not  bent  upon  pleasure.  He  first 
made  an  intensive  study  of  con- 
ditions in  the  countries  he  visited  in 
South  America.  He  investigated  the 
products,  what  was  consumed  in  home 
production,  the  amount  of  surplus  for 
export,  prices,  costs  of  transportation, 
rates  of  exchange.  He  did  the  same 
thing  in  Italy.  Later  he  returned  to 
New  York  and  was  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  the  great  house  of  Grinnell, 
Minturn  &  Co.  Henry  Grinnell,  a 
brother,  who  financed  the  Dr.  Kane 
Arctic  expedition,  was  associated  with 
him.  The  firm  set  apart  $10,000  a 
year  for  the  entertainment  of  foreign 
diplomats  and  the  great  men  of  earth 
were  guests  of  the  firm.  Mr.  Grinnell 
became  one  of  the  leading  men  of 
affairs  in  the  United  States. 

At  the  period  when  the  diary  was 
written  the  five  most  beautiful  girls 
in  the  town  were  the  daughters  of 
Gilbert  Russell.  Gilbert  Russell  was 
a  great  grandson  of  Joseph  Russell, 
for  whom  Joseph  Rotch  named  New 
Bedford,     Russell    being     the     family 


i  s  ) 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


name  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford.  The 
town  was  named  Bedford.  Later,  when 
it  was  found  there  was  another  Bed- 
ford in  the  colony,  "New"  was  pre- 
fixed. Old  Joseph  Russell  owned  one 
of  the  eleven  farms,  including  what  is 
now  Russell  Mills.  Later  Russells 
added  to  the  domain  and  a  large  part 
of  the  property  came  to  Gilbert  by 
inheritance.  Gilbert  was  a  whaling 
merchant.  At  the  time  the  Anthony 
diary  was  written  he  lived  in  a  very 
stately  mansion  on  the  west  side  of 
County  street  at  the  head  of  Walnut 
street.  This  old  mansion  was  later 
sold  to  William  R.  Rotch  and  re- 
modeled, and  the  house  parted  with 
something  of  its  distinction  in  the  re- 
building. It  is  now  owned  by  Edward 
S.  Brown.  Later,  in  1829,  Mr.  Russell 
built  the  mansion  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  Russell  and  Sixth  streets. 

Two  Grinnells  married  daughters  of 
Gilbert  Russell.  The  first  of  the  girls 
to  be  married  was  Catharine,  who 
married  Joseph  R.  Anthony,  a  cousin. 
Lydia  Russell  married  William  W. 
Swain.  Mr.  Swain  was  called  "Gov- 
ernor" Swain,  because  he  ruled  over 
the  island  of  Naushon,  which  he 
bought  in  conjunction  with  John  M. 
Forbes.  Mr.  Swain  lived  in  the  man- 
sion at  the  corner  of  County  and  Haw- 
thorn streets,  which  he  endowed  as  a 
school,  the  mansion  coming  into  pos- 
session of  the  school  trustees  at  the 
death  of  his  wife.  Swain  and  Forbes 
agreed  that  the  title  of  Naushon 
should  pass  to  the  survivor,  and  so  it 
happened  that  Mr.  Forbes  became  the 
sole  owner  of  the  island.  Susan  Rus- 
sell married  Moses  H.  Grinnell.  Susan 
died  in  1832  and  later  Moses  Grinnell 
married  a  niece  of  Washington  Irving. 
Cornelius  Grinnell,  Jr.,  married  Eliza 
T.  Russell  for  his  first  wife  and  after 
her  death  Mary  Russell,  a  sister. 

It  is  a  matter  of  tradition,  that  the 


Russell  girls  were  famed  for  their 
beauty.  We  know  that  in  the  day  in 
which  Mr.  Anthony  writes  they  were 
slight  in  figure,  for  in  an  entry  in 
April,  1823,  Joseph  records.  "The 
girls,  with  Warren  and  Moses,  dined 
with  us.  In  the  afternoon  the  girls 
came  down  to  the  counting  room  to 
be  weighed — Mary  94,  Sue  90,  Katy 
88."  The  blithe  romance  of  Moses  and 
Susan  is  touched  upon  naively.  On 
February  23,  1823,  Mr.  Anthony 
records: 

"Susan,  Moses,  Warren  and  Tom 
dined  with  me.  We  had  a  pretty  merry 
day.  Moses  in  high  glee,  being  his 
birthday,  as  well  as  elated  with  his 
success  in  his  affair." 

On  March  13,  Joseph  Writes: 

"Cousin  Tom,  Moses  and  Susan 
dined  with  us.  On  the  23rd  of  last 
month  I  attributed  part  of  the  fine 
spirits  which  Moses  was  in  to  its  being 
his  birthday,  but  since  find  I  was 
mistaken,  and  it  was  all  owing  to  the 
other  source,  today  being  his  birthday 
— twenty  years  old." 

The  Friends  society,  of  whioh  the 
Russell  girls  were  birthright  members, 
undertook  to  discipline  Mary  and 
Susan.  This  part  of  the  record  is 
very  full  and  interesting.  Schism  had 
developed  among  the  Friends  at  this 
period.  It  was  not  unlike  the  con- 
temporary schism  in  the  Congrega- 
tional church,  a  controversy  between 
the  liberal  element  and  the  lees 
liberal.  The  meeting  house  which 
Mr.  Anthony  attended,  of  which  he 
wrote  and  in  which  the  stirring  scenes 
recorded  in  the  diary  were  enacted, 
was  erected  in  1785  on  the  Spring 
street  lot,  given  by  Joseph  Russell. 
This  old  meeting  house  was  removed 
in  1826  when  the  meeting  house  of 
brick,  now  standing,  was  built.  At 
the  period  the  Diary  was  written  the 
New  Light  movement,  which  had  been 


[    6    1 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


brewing  since  1817,  was  just  culmi- 
nating. The  new  group  claimed  to 
have  received  "new  light"  which  led 
them  to  disregard  the  practices  and 
principles  of  the  society.  In  some 
communities  the  Quakers  split  and 
divided  between  factions  within  the 
society,  there  were  Gurneyites  and 
Wilburites  in  some  sections,  repre- 
senting degrees  of  liberality.  In 
New  Bedford  a  part  of  the  liberal 
element  united  with  the  Unitarians. 
Later  the  Wilburites  built  a  meeting 
house  on  the  east  side  of  Fifth  street, 
north  of  Russell.  The  story  of  the 
differences  between  the  Old  Lights 
and  the  New  Lights  as  related  by  Mr. 
Anthony,  is  represented  in  excellent 
spirit.  When  it  is  considered  that  Mr. 
Anthony  was  but  2  6  and  that  two  of 
his  wife's  sisters  were  menaced  with 
the  discipline  of  the  society,  the  fair- 
ness of  the  relation  and  the  restraint, 
is  remarkable. 

On  April  16,  Joseph  writes: 
"Mary  and  Susan  had  another  visit 
this  forenoon  from  the  overseers  of 
the  meeting  to  labour  with  them  re- 
specting their  dress  and  address  and 
informed  that  they  should  make  a 
complaint  to  the  meeting." 
On  April  17  is  this  record: 
"The  overseers  of  the  meeting  en- 
tered a  regular  complaint  in  the 
preparative  meeting  this  day  against 
Mary  and  Susan  for  not  conforming 
to  the  Discipline  in  all  the  important 
points  of  Dress,  Address,  attending 
disorderly  meetings  (viz.  the  marriage 
of  Jeremiah  Winslow  and  mine)  and 
frequenting  places  of  public  amuse- 
ments. After  some  debate  it  was  con- 
cluded to  carry  the  complaint  up  to 
the  monthly  meeting  next  week.  The 
girls  have  got  their  feelings  a  good 
deal  excited  and  will  probably  resign 
their  membership.  The  girls,  with 
Warren  and  Moses  dined  with  us." 


On  April  20  he  records: 

"This  morning  we  had  an  edifying 
sermon  from  William  James  on  the 
great  importance  of  dress.  He  alluded 
pretty  pointedly  to  Mary  and  Susan 
on  the  sinfulness  of  their  gay  attire." 

The  final  episode  in  the  attempt  to 
discipline  Mary  and  Susan  wherein 
the  sisters  relinquished  their  rights  to 
membership  in  the  society,  is  a  most 
interesting  and  important  contribu- 
tion to  the  religious  history  of  New 
Bedford.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Mary 
Newell  came  here  and  the  story  of 
the  friction  between  the  Old  Lights 
and  the  New  Lights  is  told  as  never 
before.  It  was  a  fine  quality  in  Mr. 
Anthony  that  he  turned  from  the 
pleasures  of  the  week  and  attended 
meetings  with  regularity,  writing  with 
surprising  reserve  and  discrimination, 
his  youth  considered.  These  were  ex- 
citing times  in  the  meeting,  when 
speakers  "denounced  a  woe  upon 
those  who  interposed  the  work  of  the 
Lord";  austere  Quakers  would  not 
arise  at  the  prayer  of  the  New  Lights, 
when  Debby  Otis  stood  in  the  aisle 
and  would  not  let  Eliza  Rotch  take 
the  high  seat.  At  one  time  Cornelius 
Grinnell  unloaded  a  vessel  on  Sunday 
which  caused  criticism.  Cornelius 
finally  "had  himself  complained  of  for 
a  breach  of  the  Sabbath,"  in  anticipa- 
tion of  action  by  the  society,  "and  by 
that  means   saved   half   the   expense." 

The  mild  gaiety  of  the  town  is  pic- 
tured. "Took  tea  at  Fathers.  Nat  and 
Anna,  Mrs.  Tom  Rotch  and  others 
there  a-quilting"  is  one  entry.  Baga- 
telle was  played.  A  "Grand  Caravan 
of  Living  Animals"  visited  the  town. 
A  company  of  colored  performers 
came  and  was  sent  out  of  town  by  the 
selectmen.  Thanksgiving  evening  Jo- 
seph attended  a  "grand  oratorio."  On 
Washington's  Birthday  the  artillery 
company  paraded,  there  was  an  ora- 


[   7    ] 


LIFE  IN  NEW  BEDFORD 


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/^s-aJftp-hJ,  s&C^rc-f    A<*m-4>>>    c/f.tr^  a*  f^if&iQ 


A  Page  of  the  Diary  (Reproduced  in  Actual  Size) 
[  8   ] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


tion  and  a  dinner  at  Cole's  Hotel,  but 
"from  all  account  the  delivery  of  the 
oration  was  ludicrous  enough  and 
shew  the  man  was  partially  deranged. 
On  the  whole  the  celebration  was  a 
pretty  small  concern.  In  the  evening 
had  an  oyster  supper."  Mr.  Anthony 
visited  New  York,  saw  "Tom  and 
Jerry"  and  Matthews  at  the  theatre. 
The  plays  included  "The  Clandestine 
Marriage,"  "Monsieur  Tonson"  and 
the  "Forty  Thieves."  On  this  trip 
Joseph  was  invited  to  meet  Prince 
Marat  who  was  over  from  France. 
Among  the  quaint  things  he  saw  in 
New  York  was  a  "stepping  mill," 
which  is  described. 

We  know  upon  what  viands  the 
affluent  of  this  day  fed.  In  June  Mr. 
Anthony  records  he  had  roast  beef, 
"a  rarity  at  this  season."  But  he  had 
stall  fed  wild  pigeon  and  partridge 
pie,  fried  oysters,  venisoned  mutton, 
souse  and  sausages,  ate  strawberries 
in  James  Arnold's  garden,  attended  a 
corn  pudding  party  and  a  cherry  and 
cucumber  party,  had  radishes  "from 
the  seed  that  grew  this  year,"  apples 
"Which  grew  on  my  English  Royal* 
dwarf  received  from  France  this 
spring.  It  was  in  bloom  when  set  out. 
The  color  red  and  white  and  very 
fine  flavour."  He  set  casks  of  wine 
to  settle,  Madeira  and  port  which  he 
bottled  himself. 

Joseph  read  the  Waverly  Novels  and 
Miss  Edgeworth's  novels  sent  to 
Henry  Grinnell  in  New  York  to  send 
him  "Peveril  of  the  Peak"  and  the 
"Pioneers,"  read  Las  Casas's  Journal, 
"Quentin  Derwood,"  "Reginald  Dal- 
ton,"  Butler's  "Hudibras." 

There  are  many  stories  of  trips  to 
New  York.  Sometimes  the  Rotch's 
went  along  and  they  drove  to  New- 
port in  a  gig,  of  the  type  of  William 
Rotch's  chaise,  where  a  steamer  was 
taken.     The   traveling   facilities   were 


primitive.  One  day  Mr.  Anthony  sent 
his  man  on  horseback  to  Newport  to 
get  "Sovereign  Salve"  for  his  wife. 
There  are  stories  of  stage  trips  with 
merry  songs. 

The  business  record  is  no  less  in- 
teresting. The  names  of  famous  ships 
appear,  like  the  Maria,  which  was  a 
bridal  present  of  Samuel  Rodman 
from  his  father-in-law,  William 
Rotch.  This  is  the  vessel  that  secured 
in  some  quarters  the  erroneous  fame 
of  being  the  first  vessel  to  fly  the 
American  flag  in  the  Thames.  It  is 
the  vessel  that  took  Mr.  Rotch  to 
England  and  France,  when  he  met  the 
French  king  and  held  an  interview 
which  resulted  in  establishing  the 
whaling  industry  at  Dunkirk.  The 
Maria  brought  the  famed  horse,  Ro- 
man to  New  York  and  Mr.  Anthony 
writes  of  the  curiosity  of  the  New 
Yorkers  who  visited  the  vessel  in 
crowds.  This  vessel  had  a  remarkable 
history.  Also  there  is  mention  of  the 
"Ann  Alexander."  George  Howland 
named  her  for  an  Irish  Friend  who 
was  traveling  in  this  country. 

Incidentally  Mr.  Anthony  did  busi- 
ness with  John  Jacob  Astor  on  one 
New  York  trip.  Even  in  that  day 
business  men  were  looking  for  lar- 
gesse through  a  tariff.  Mr.  Anthony 
records  a  meeting  to  petition  for  a 
tax  on  tallow. 

At  the  period  this  record  was 
made  the  population  of  New  Bed- 
ford was  less  than  4000,  having  lost 
nearly  1000  in  population  since  the 
census  ten  years  preceding.  This  was 
due  to  dull  business  following  the 
war  in  1812.  Early  records  in  the 
diary  emphasize  the  depression  and 
encircling  gloom  with  respect  to  the 
business  outlook.     For  example: 

"The  great  scarcity  of  money  and 
disputes  on  religious  matters  are  the 


[  9   1 


LIFE 


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BEDFORD 


great  topics  of  conversation  through 
the   town." 

"Retrenchment  of  expenses  in  liv- 
ing is  the  cry  on  all  sides  but  few 
are  ready  to  commence.  Cornelius 
talks  strongly  of  going  down  to  the 
farm  to  live,  but  it  will  probably  all 
end  in  talk." 

New  Bedford  was  at  this  time  a 
sparsely  built  village  on  the  hillside. 
Clarks  Point  was  wooded.  There  were 
woods  at  the  westward.  The  man- 
sions of  the  rich  were  of  a  type  like 
that  of  the  Rodman  and  Rotch  man- 
sions. Moses  Grinnell,  of  whom  so 
much  is  written  in  the  diary,  lived 
with  his  father,  Captain  Cornelius 
Grinnell,  a  merchant  whose  early  life 
was  spent  on  the  sea.  He  was  one  of 
the  incorporators  of  the  Bedford 
bank  in  1803.  In  1811  Capt.  Grin- 
nell bought  the  house  of  Asa  Russell 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  Acushnet 
avenue  and  Grinnell  streets,  still 
standing,  now  occupied  as  a  boarding 
house.  William  Rotch  who  was  a  vital 
factor  in  the  development  of  whaling 
and  other  business  activities  died  in 
1828  and  the  following  year  his  house 
was  opened  as  a  hotel  under  the 
name  of  the  Mansion  House.  His  son, 
William  Rotch,  Jr.,  lived  at  the  cor- 
ner of  William  and  Water  streets  in 
the  house  now  used  as  the  Mariners' 
Home,  which  was  given  to  the  Port 
Society  by  Mrs.  James  Arnold,  his 
daughter,  after  his  decease  in  18  50. 
Samuel  Rodman  lived  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  Water  and  William 
streets,  later  used  as  a  bakery.  The 
stone  building  on  the  east  side  of 
Water  street  was  in  existence.  It  was 
the  candle  works  of  Samuel  Rodman. 
John  Avery  Parker  was  living  in  the 
mansion  on  the  southeast  corner  of 
Purchase  and  Middle  streets,  later 
the  Parker  House.  George  Howland 
lived  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Wal- 


nut and  Seventh  streets.  He  manu- 
factured sperm  oil  products  in  a  stone 
building  at  the  foot  of  North  street. 
James  Arnold  had  moved  from  his 
house  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
South  Water  and  Madison  streets  to 
his  new  brick  house  at  the  head  of 
Spring  street  where  he  had  created 
'Arnold's  Garden."  Mr.  Arnold  came 
here  from  Rhode  Island,  began  his 
career  under  the  tutorship  of  William 
Rotch  and  married  the  daughter  of 
William  Rotch,  Jr.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  William  Rotch,  Jr.  & 
Co.  The  Eagle  Hotel  was  at  the  south 
west  corner  of  Union  and  Fourth 
streets.  There  were  fifteen  wharves, 
eight  spermaceti  manufacturers,  two 
rope  walks  and  two  banks. 

All  the  houses  of  New  Bedford's 
wealthy  men  at  this  time  were  con- 
structed upon  the  same  design,  which 
is  attributed  to  Henry  B.  Worth  as  an 
expression  of  the  dominant  influence 
on  the  social,  religious  and  business 
life  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  In  their 
zest  to  avoid  ostentation,  they  adopted 
rigid  uniformity  of  dress,  speech, 
mode  of  living  and  style  of  house. 
They  had  before  them  the  fact  that  in 
Nantucket  a  member  was  investigated 
by  the  meeting  for  a  departure  from 
the  usual  type  of  dwelling  and  anoth- 
er, for  the  same  reason  refused  to 
visit  his  daughter  in  her  home. 

The  attempt  has  been  made  in  this 
introduction  to  picture  the  little  vil- 
lage a  century  ago,  when  Joseph  An- 
thony wrote  his  diary.  This  diary  is 
the  spirit  that  unroofs  the  mansions 
and  the  counting  houses  and  gives  the 
reader  entree  into  the  intimacy  of 
homes  such  as  Asmodeus  afforded 
Don  Cleofas.  The  adventure  will,  we 
are  sure,  be  no  less  entertaining  than 
the  celebrated  flight  described  by  Le 
Sage. 

— Zephaniah  W.  Pease. 


[10] 


PHOTOGRAPH  OF  THE  DIARIES 


LIFE    IN   NEW   BEDFORD 
A  HUNDRED  YEARS  AGO. 


THE  DIARY. 

1st  Month  1st,  1823. 

A  stormy  and  unpleasant  day,  with 
snow  and  rain.  Robert  Brayton 
buried. 

2nd.  Agreed  with  Jos.  Rotch  for 
the  residue  of  the  sperm  oil  of  the 
Sophia's  cargo  unsold,  belonging  to 
the  crew  at  55  cts.  p.  gall,  cash — for 
the   Candle   works. 

3d.  Nothing  of  any  note  transpired 
today.  Heard  of  the  Brig  Minerva 
from  St.  Thomas  with  500  bbls.  sperm 
oil.  A  great  scarcity  of  money 
among  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town. 

4th.  Ship  Atlas  hauled  off  into  the 
stream,  considerable  of  a  snow  storm 
all    the    evening    &    night. 

5th.  Sunday.  Rained  nearly  all 
day — cleared  away  cold  in  the  after- 
noon. William  Foster,  an  Engl's'man, 
preached  at  our  meeting  house.  Pick- 
ering, a  Universalist,  had  a  meeting 
at  D.   Davenport's  shop. 

6th.  A  cold  day — very  slippery — 
spent  the  evening  at  Cora's.  Had 
some  oysters  and  then  took  a  sleigh 
ride  around  town. 


7th.  The  harbour  closed  last  night 
with  ice  below  Palmer's  Island.  Wm. 
T.  and  Moses  started  for  Newport,  & 
I  embraced  the  opportunity  to  send 
W.  B.  a  letter  enclosing  $10  for  B.  A. 
likewise  a  bundle  of  clothes — took  tea 
at  Father's  &  spent  the  evening  there. 

8th.  A  warm  and  pleasant  day. 
The  Wm.  &  Eliza  got  below  the  Island 
clear  of  the  ice.  W.  T.  Russell  & 
Moses  returned  from  Newport — con- 
tracted to  manufacture  some  oil  for 
the  owners  of  the  Robinson  Potter. 

9th.  The  Atlas  dropped  below  the 
Island.  Received  the  intelligence  this 
evening  of  the  loss  of  the  Sloop  Eliza 
Nicoll — Capt.  Perry,  on  her  passage 
from  hence  to  New  York,  she  was  en- 
deavoring to  make  Black  Rock  for  a 
harbour,  but  struck  going  in  on  a 
rock  called  the  Cowes,  and  immedi- 
ately filled.  There  were  seven  per- 
sons on  board,  five  of  whom  perished, 
viz.,  Benjamin  Fuller  of  this  town,  a 
Capt.  Smith  &  an  agent,  Mr.  Ed- 
mundson  (who  had  been  purchasing 
sperm  oil)  of  N.  York  and  two  black 
men.  Gershom  Drew  (mate  of  the 
Minerva  last  voyage)  was  saved.  Capt. 
Perry  was  much  bruised  &  frozen. 
It  is  expected  the  sloop  will  be  lost 
entirely.    The  fate  of  the  cargo  is  not 


[13] 


LIFE 


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yet  ascertained — she  had  not  much 
freight  on  board — it  consisted  of  oil 
belonging  to  the  Candle  works  at 
Fairhaven — and  fifty  barrels  S.  Oil  in 
the  natural  state  purchased  of  John 
Coggeshall,  Jr.,  by  the  person  above 
mentioned.  This  sad  accident  took 
place  on  seventh  day  evening  last,  the 
4th  inst,  between  8  &  9  o'clock,  in  a 
thick  snow  storm.  There  was  also  a 
son  of  Benja'n  Fuller  on  board  who 
likewise   perished. 

10th.  The  weather  for  a  day  or 
two  past  has  been  so  moderate  that 
the  Ice  in  the  river  is  very  much 
broken  up.  In  the  afternoon  the 
wind  N.  W.  and  cold.  Luther  An- 
thony's sister  died  this  morning  after 
a  long  illrress. 

11th.  A  cold  and  unpleasant  day — 
in  the  afternoon  the  river  again  froze 
over,  having  been  entirely  broken  up 
by  the  strong  N.W.  wind  which  pre- 
vailed last  night.  John  Wood's  new 
N.  York  packet  dropped  down  below 
the  island  to  be  ready  the  first  wind. 

12th.  The  Wm.  &  Eliza  for  the 
Pacific  Ocean  and  the  Atlas  for  Brazil 
Banks  &  the  coast  of  Guinea  sailed 
this  morning — also  the  Sloop  Rod- 
man for  N.  York. 

13th.  Ch's  Swain  returned  last 
evening  from  N.   Orleans. 

14th.  Took  tea  at  Nat's  in  the 
evening — had  an  oyster  supper.  Ac- 
counts from  Europe  rec'd  this  evening 
state  that  the  Holy  Alliance  had 
broken  up,  and  that  there  were  good 
reasons  to  believe  that  France  would 
soon  declare  war  with  Spain. 

15th.  The  celebrated  Methodist 
minister,  M.  Maffit,  arrived  in  town 
and  preached  to  a  large  assembly  at 
the  Methodist  meeting  house — he  did 
not   cause   much   excitement. 

16th.  This  day  Micah  H.  Ruggles 
and  Lydia  Rodman  informed  the 
Friends    meeting  that   they   intended 


marrying  each  other,  which  occasions 
much  talk  among  a  certain  class  of 
the  good  friends.  Heard  this  eve- 
ning of  the  arrival  of  Hathaway's 
Brig  Horatio  into  New  York.  The 
master,  Loum  Snow,  died  two  days 
before  she  arrived  —  also  the  Brig 
Clitus  —  Capt.  Almy  into  New  Port 
with   a   cargo   of   salt. 

17th.  A  very  pleasant  day.  Father 
commenced  filling  his  Ice  house. 

18th.  Nothing  doing  of  any  con- 
sequence in  the  town.  The  Reform- 
ation among  the  Baptist  Society  and 
Mr.  Maffit  is  the  principle  talk  of 
the  day. 

19th.  Mary  Newell  from  Lynn  was 
at  meeting  this  afternoon,  and  many 
went  in  hopes  she  would  preach,  but 
were  disappointed,  myself  among  the 
number. 

20th.  Rained  all  day.  Benjamin 
Hill  died  last  night. 

21st.  Heard  of  the  arrival  of  the 
Brig.  Wm.  Thacher  at  Rio  Janario 
after  a  passage  of  100  days.  The 
Clitus  came  round  from  New  Port 
this  day. 

2 2d.  Went  this  evening  to  hear 
Mr.  Maffit,  the  Methodist  preacher 
he  sang  several  Psalms  alone  with 
much  elegance,  but  I  did  not  admire 
his  manner  of  preaching,  being  too 
theatrical,  and  an  appearanoe  of  a 
want  of  sincerity  to  please  my  taste. 
23d.  Catharine  taken  unwell  this 
morning,  rather  better  at  noon.  I 
went  and  dined  at  William's.  Dr. 
Read  staid  all  night. 

24th.  Catharine  has  been  quite 
smart  all  day.  Two  persons,  a  woman 
and  a  boy,  were  taken  up  for  passing 
counterfeit  money. 

25th.  Nothing  occurred  during  the 
day  needful  to  be  noted. 

26th.  An  unpleasant  day — Sunday 
— did  not  go  out  of  the  house  all  day. 


[14] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


27th.  The  great  scarcity  of  money 
and  disputes  on  Religious  matters  are 
the  great  topics  of  conversation 
throughout  the  town. 

28th.  Rec'd  a  letter  from  my  sister 
Mary  at  New  Port  in  answer  to  the 
one  I  wrote  by  W.  T.  Russell.  Paid 
Henry  on  a-c  Ten  Dollars.  James 
Coggeshall  was  married  this  evening 
to  Edward   Wing's  daughter  Anna. 

29th.  The  sloop  Eliza  Nicols  ar- 
rived last  night  from  New  York.  Wrote 
a  letter  to  James  Savage,  Esq.,  Bos- 
ton, requesting  information  respect- 
ing Savings  Bank,  copy  of  which  let- 
ter is  in  my  Port  Folio.  Spent  the 
evening  at  the  Methodist  meeting 
houso  to  hear  Mr.  Mafflt  preach  and 
sing.  Was  not  well  pleased  and  think 
I  shall  not  go  to  hear  him  again.  He 
has  as  yet  not  been  very  fortunate  in 
making  converts  not  more  than  twen- 
ty have  come  forward,  and  those 
mostly  girls  from  eight  to  ten  years 
of  age,  so  that  he  hardly  gets  his 
share,  in  this  day  of  Reformation. 

30th.  Attended  our  meeting  this 
forenoon  to  hear  Mary  Newell  preach 
and  was  not  disappointed  the  pleasure 
of  hearing  her.  Dined  at  N.  Hathaway 
— had  .an  excellent  haunch  of  mutton, 
cooked  in  veinson  style.  In  the  after- 
noon wrote  to  D.  Southward  of  Mat- 
tapoisett  respecting  W.  R.  Rotch's 
demand  against  Libny  Rogers'  estate 
&  enclosed  the  letter  to  Jos.  Meigs 
that  I  might  be  sure  he  received  it 
(memo).  Wrote  that  unless  he  p'd 
the  demand  before  the  17th  next 
month  he  would  be  sued.  Also  wrote 
Henry  Grinnell  to  send  me  Peveril  of 
the  Peak  &  the  Pioneers. 

31st.  Sloop  Rodman — Capt.  Wood 
— arrived  from  New  York,  carried 
away  her  main  boom.  The  weather 
has  been  very  mild  during  this 
month,  and  generally  mild,  this  eve- 
ning it  snowed  for  a  little  while  quite 


briskly,  and  gave  indications  of  their 
being  good  sleighing,  but  cleared 
away  cold  &  very  little  snow  fell. 

February. 

2d  Mo.  1st.  Rec'd  an  answer  from 
letter  to  Jas.  Savage,  unfavorable  to 
my  wishes.  The  letter  will  be  found 
with   the    copy    of   mine   to    him. 

2d-  A  pleasant  day.  After  dinner 
took  Catharine  to  ride  as  far  as  the 
Point.  Mary  Newell  preached  an  ex- 
cellent sermon  at  the  afternoon 
meeting.  About  sun  set  a  Brig,  was 
seen  coming  into  the  bay  supposed  to 
be  the  Minerva.  The  packet  Experi- 
ment Capt.  Taber — sailed  this  morn- 
ing for  N.  York. 

3d.  The  Brig,  seen  yesterday  went 
down  sound.  Snowed  nearly  all  day, 
but  the  quantity  fell  was  trifling. 

4th.  Sleighing  pretty  good.  Took 
Catherine  to  ride  as  far  as  the  Beach 
in  the  Slaygh.  At  5  o'clock  C.  was 
taken  unwell  and  at  9  o'clock  she 
was  put  to  bed  with  a  Boy,  having 
got  thro  the  business  as  well  as  could 
be  expected. 

5th.  A  pleasant  day.  Took  a 
sleigh  ride  in  the  morning  with  Sis- 
ter Susan  and  Willy. 

6th.  The  coldest  day  we  have  had 
this  winter.  In  the  evening  an  ap- 
pearance of  a  storm.  Catharine  gets 
along  very  well. 

7th.  Another  very  cold  day.  The 
river  entirely  closed  with  Ice.  Meri- 
beh  Keith  and  Benj'n  Russell  re- 
turned from  Charleston  by  packet  to 
N.  York,  and  then  by  land — got  here 
this  evening. 

8th.  The  weather  much  milder — 
some  appearance  of  a  snow  storm. 
Cath.   not  so  well  today. 

9th.  Sent  Henry  a  horseback  to 
Newport  to  get  some  salve  for  Cath- 
arine,. Went  to  meeting  in  the  fore- 
noon.     Mary    Newell   was   there    and 


[  15] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


gave  us  an  excellent  sermon.  After 
she  sat  down  Caleb  Greene  got  up 
and  denounced  her  in  a  very  unhand- 
some manner.  The  greater  part  of 
the  meeting  I  trust  for  the  honour  of 
the  Society  felt  a  contempt  for  his 
mean  and  pitiful  conduct.  Immedi- 
ately on  his  taking  his  seat,  Sam. 
Rodman  rose  in  vindication  of  Mary, 
and  informed  the  meeting  the  manner 
she  had  been  persecuted  at  Lynn, 
made  some  appropriate  remarks,  and 
concluded  by  saying  that  for  the  testi- 
mony she  had  that  day  borne,  we 
could  judge  for  ourselves  whether  it 
was  in  the  truth  or  not.  Dined  at 
brother  William's — went  to  meeting 
again  in  the  afternoon.  M.  Newell 
gave  us  another  sermon  to  my  great 
satisfaction  and  I  hope  to  that  of 
many  others.  She  also  appeared  in 
supplication.  About  one  third  of  the 
asembly  kept  their  seats  to  show  they 
were  not  in  unity  with  her — no  oppo- 
sition, however,  othei-wise  than  not 
rising       at         her  prayer         was 

manifested  by  the  Old  Lights.  In 
the  morning  meeting  after  S.  Rodman 
took  his  seat  and  the  audience  was 
leaving  B.  Rodman  made  some  re- 
marks to  favour  M.  Newell.  Took 
tea  at  N.  Hathaway's  and  spent  the 
evening  with  him.  Sister  Susan  to 
whom  we  applied  to  select  a  name 
for  our  Boy,  informed  us  she  had 
chosen  that  of  Edward,  which  name 
we  shall  give  him,  Mr.  Maffltt  still 
continues  to  attract  a  full  house. 
Reformations  and  Revivals,  as  they 
are  called,  seem  to  be  the  order  of 
the  day.  It  is  to  be  hoped  some 
good  will  result  from  them,  but  the 
contrary  is  much   feared. 

10th.  Henry  returned  this  after- 
noon from  Newport  with  the  Sove- 
reign salve  for  Catharine.  Took  tea 
at  father's  with  Mary  Newell,  Mary 
Rotch  and  some  others.     Had  a  very 


pleasant  time.  M.  Newell  has  ap- 
pointed a  meeting  tomorrow  evening 
to  be  held  at  Whitaker's  (the  first 
Congregational)    Church. 

11th.  Attended  M.  Newell's  meet- 
ing. She  sat  in  the  pulpit  accompanied 
by  Sam'l  Rodman  &  his  wife.  Mary 
Rotch  and  Content  Breed  gave  us  a 
first  rate  Quaker  sermon  &  prayer, 
the  meeting  was  crowded  to  excess. 
So  many  members  of  the  Friends 
Society  attending  the  meeting  gives 
much  umbrage  to  the  Old  Lights. 

12th.  Cornelius  ,  William  T,  & 
Nathaniel  dined  with  me  today  on 
roast  mutton.  We  all  went  to  Corn's 
in  the  evening  to  tea.  Mary  Newell 
and  about  twenty  others  were  there. 
We  had  a  very  agreeable  evening  in- 
deed. She  is  a  very  interesting  and 
amiable  woman.  It  commenced 
snowing  this  morning  about  sunrise 
and  continued  to  storm  until  noon.  A 
good  deal  of  snow  fell  and  had  the 
ground  been  in  proper  order  we 
should  have  had  good  sleighing. 

13th.  Spent  the  forenoon  by  tak- 
ing a  sleigh  ride  with  sister  S.  and 
Mr.  Warren — dined  and  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  the  day  at  Corn's. 

14th.  Dined  at  N.  Hathaway's  with 
C.  G.  Jr.  &  wife,  W.  T.  R.  &  wife, 
Mary  &  Susan  &  Moses.  Staid  there 
until  10,  in  the  evening.  Commenced 
snowing  about  three  o'clock,  but  in 
the  evening  it  rained  and  made  very 
bad  walking. 

15th.  This  morning  a  Brig  was 
seen  at  the  S.  W.  end  of  Nashawinna, 
supposed  to  be  at  anchor,  but  about 
11  o'clock  she  set  all  sail  headed  for 
the  shore.  It  was  then  discovered  she 
was  ashore  and  they  were  endeavour- 
ing to  force  her  as  the  tide  was  up 
as  near  the  land  as  possible.  In  the 
afternoon  John  Wood  &  others  in  the 
Sloop  Rodman  went  down  to  her  to 
ascertain    who    she    was.     The    signal 


[  16] 


NEW  BEDFORD  AT  ABOUT  THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  DIARY 

Top  picture — Corner  of  Union  and  Purchase  Streets — Street  through  the  centre  is 
Purchase  Street. 

Lower  Picture— Corner  of  Water  and  William   Streets— The  Cart  stands  at  the 
corner  of  Front  and  Hamilton  Streets. 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


the  Brig  had  set  resembled  J.  A. 
Parker's  very  much,  and  for  the  most 
of  the  day  it  was  believed  to  be  his 
brig  Dragon,  but  at  dark  no  alteration 
was  made  in  the  signal  of  the  Rod- 
man— it  is  believed  she  does  not  be- 
long here.  Spent  the  evening  at  Wil- 
liam Nye's.  M.  Newell  was  there.  She 
and  Mary  Rotch  both  had  some  re- 
ligious remarks  to  make  to  us — had  a 
very  pleasant  evening. 

16th.  Attended  the  fore  and  after- 
noon meeting.  M.  Newell  preached 
at  both — she  gave  a  long  and  able  dis- 
course in  the  morning.  No  opposition 
was  manifested  by  the  old  lights. 
Jeremiah  Winslow  was  published  to- 
day to  Miss  Norris,  a  teacher  of  the 
French  language,  a  quite  unexpected 
circumstance.  Corn's  &  Betsey,  Mary, 
Susan  and  Moses  dined  with  me.  Mr. 
Maffitt  took  his  benefit  this  evening. 
I  should  be  inclined  to  think  it  was 
rather  a  small  one  from  the  great 
scarcity  of  money.  The  Rodman  re- 
turned this  evening.  The  Brig 
ashore  is  the  Two  Brothers,  of  Bos- 
ton, from  Campeachy,  with  Logwood, 
mahogany,  etc.  The  Brig  will  prob- 
ably go  to  pieces,  but  the  cargo  may 
be  saved  if  the  weather  should  be 
moderate.  The  cook  was  washed 
overboard  during  the  day  and 
drowned.  A  ship  was  seen  at  noon 
to  pass  Quicksies  Hole,  and  come  to 
anchor  in  Tarpaulin  Cove..  She  set 
her  signal  on  the  flagstaff — it  is 
thought  to  be  the  Persia. 

17th.  Benj'n  Heathe,  the  rigger, 
died  very  suddenly  last  night  of  a 
complaint  at  the  heart — he  was  out 
during  the  day  and  was  as  well  as 
usual.  Went  over  to  Mattapoisett  to 
see  Dr.  Wibbour  Southward  in  the 
sleigh,  Mr.  Warren  with  me — found 
the  Dr.  had  come  to  Bedford.  Corn's 
had  Mr.  Mafflt  and  some  others  to 
dine  with  him.     No  accounts  from  the 


ship — Mosher  went  over  to  her     this 
morning. 

18th.  The  Pilot  Boat  returned 
from  the  Cove,  and  we  find  that  the 
ship  that  was  seen  on  Sunday  was 
the  Persia — Capt.  Cross — full  of 
sperm  oil  from  the  coast  of  Japan — 
wind  favorable  for  the  ship  to  get 
round.  Dined  at  father's.  Mary 
Newell  left  town  this  morning  for 
home,   and   Mr.   Mafflt   for  Bristol 

19th.  A  fine  day.  Cousin  Tom  & 
Nathan  dined  with  me.  Persia  not 
arrived. 

20th.  The  Persia  got  as  far  as 
Clark's  point,  but  the  Ice  prevented 
her  getting  any  further.  Capt.  Silas 
Parker  died  about  11  o'clock  of  a 
lung  fevre.  Received  a  confirmation 
from  Moses  of  what  I  had  suspected 
for  some  time. 

21st.     The   following  is  the   list   of 
Bedford  ships  which  the  Persia  brings 
a-c  of  spoke  June  18,  1822,  Lat.  33.40, 
N.  Long.  178  W.: 
Wilm'n.      &   L'pool     packet 

(Briggs)     300  bbls. 

Minerva   (Swain)    200     " 

Phoebe  Ann    900     '' 

All  those  on  the  coast  of  Japan. 

Heard  of  the  following  at  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  April  15,   1822: 

Balaena    (Gardner)     600  bbls. 

Geo.  &  Susan   (Upham)    .  .  .    300     " 
Independence    (Hammond)  .    640     " 

Frances     (Swain)     550     " 

Minerva       Smith       (M'Ken- 

sie)     650      " 

Columbus    (Brock)     300     " 

Abigail    (Covell)     600     " 

Spoke  Oct.  29,  1822,  Lat.  67,  46  S. 
Long.  72  W. 

Ship  Alliance  Coffin,   150   days  out. 

Received  a  letter  from  Capt.  Swain 
of  our  Ship  Minerva,  dated  June  18, 
saying  he  had   200   bbls. 

The  sloops  Rodman  &  Bedford 
went  over  to  the  Two  Brothers  to  take 


[19] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


in  her  cargo  &c  for  the  underwriters. 

Dined  at  W.  C.  Nye's  with  a  party 
— had  a  very  clever  time. 

Rec'd  an  invitation  from  r.  Whit- 
taker  to  hear  his  oration  to  be  pro- 
nounced tomorrow,  but  declined  ac- 
cepting. This  evening  at  11  o'clock 
sister  Lydia  Swain  was  delivered  of  a 
Boy. 

22d.  The  Ship  Commodore  Rod- 
gers — Capt.  Smith — from  the  Brazil 
Banks,  with  about  1800  bbls.  whale 
oil  arrived — brought  no  later  accounts 
from  the  fleet  than  October.  She  saw 
the  Geo.  &  Martha  who  had  lost  her 
mate  and  one  man  by  the  staving  of 
a  boat.  The  birthday  of  Washington. 
D.  K.  Whitaker  delivered  an  oration. 
Capt.  Harrison  paraded  with  his  ar- 
tillery company,  and  then  partook  of 
a  dinner  provided  at  Cole's  Hotel. 
From  all  account,  the  delivery  of  the 
Oration  was  ludicrous  enough,  and 
shew  that  the  man  was  partially  de- 
ranged. On  the  whole  the  celebration 
was  a  pretty  small  concern.  In  the 
evening  the  celebration  was  a  pretty 
small  concern.  In  the  evening  had 
an  oyster  supper — Nat,  Moses,  Tom, 
father  &  the  girls  were  here.  The 
Persia  &  C,  Rodgers  both  got  up  to 
the  wharf. 

23d.  Sunday — a  pleasant  day.  The 
Persia  commenced  discharging  her 
cargo,  which  made  some  stir  being 
the  first  day  in  the  week.  Many  con- 
sidered it  wicked.  Had  a  venison 
mutton  dinner.  Susan,  Moses,  War- 
ren &  Tom  dined  with  me.  We  had 
a  pretty  merry  day.  Moses  in  high 
glee,  being  his  birthday,  as  well  as 
elated  with  his  success  In  his  *  *  * 
affair. 

24th.  The  most  severe  storm  we 
have  had  this  winter — a  considerable 
snow  and  a  very  high  wind.  Mr. 
Delius  In  town.  Dined  at  Corn's,  be- 
ing too  stormy  to  come  home.    Corn's 


found  he  should  be  complained  of  for 
a  breach  of  the  Sabbath  yesterday — 
got  Warren  to  enter  a  complaint 
against  him  &  by  that  means  saved 
half  the  expense. 

25th-  The  storm  of  yesterday  did 
not  abate  much  till  about  noon  this 
day,  when  the  Bedford  and  Rodman 
were  discovered  to  be  in  a  bad  situa- 
tion. They  had  drifted  out  of  Pune 
harbour  and  the  former  was  on  shore 
and  the  latter  in  the  surf  with  signals 
of  distress  hoisted.  The  Sloop  Henry 
with  Joe.  Allen  and  some  others  im- 
mediately put  off  to  their  assistance. 
Cleared  away  just  before  sunset  very 
pleasantly.  The  mails  for  yesterday 
and  today  not  been  received  owing 
to   the   severity   of   the   weather. 

26th.  The  Bedford  returned  from 
the  wreck — found  they  had  not  been 
in  so  bad  a  situation  as  was  feared. 
They  were  both  ashore  at  one  time, 
but  got  off  without  damage.  The  old 
ice  closed  around  them  &  prevented 
the  sea  doing  them  any  injury.  All 
the  mails  due  this  week  arrived  this 
evening. 

27th.       The  Leonidas — Capt.  Potter 
— from    the    coast    of    Japan,    arrived 
this  evening  full  sperm  oil — spoke  the 
following  July  23,  1822: 
Ship  Abigail   (Covell)    1100  bbls. 

"     Independence    (Ham- 
mond)         1200     " 

"     Barclay   (Glover)    .  .  .      500 

"     Minerva   Smyth    (Mc- 

Kensie)     700     " 

"     Charles  (Coffln)    800     " 

"     Geo.    &    Susan    (Up- 

ham)    350 

•'     Frances    (Swain)    ...      700 

"     Columbus  (Brock)    .  .      850     " 

In  Tombus  roads  October  25,  1822: 
Ship  Phenix    (Worth)     60  bbls. 

"     Swift   (Pinkham)    370 

"     Wm.    Rotch    (Tobey)        50 


[20] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


Spoke  Deq.  31,  Ship  Richmond 
(William)  full  of  elephant  oil  on  her 
pasage  home.  Reed  by  this  vessel 
a  letter  from  Capt.  Glover  of  the  Bar- 
clay dated  coast  of  Japan,  June  20, 
with  400  barrels.  The  Brig  Minerva 
Captain  Wood — from  the  coast  of  Af- 
rica full  of  sperm  oil  also  arrived  this 
evening,  left  on  the  coast  Dec.  3,  1822: 
Brig  Nautilus  (Covell)    ....    170   bbls. 

Telemeckar  (Long)    130      " 

Sch.    Packet    (Delano)     165      " 

Brig  Industry   (Parker)    .  .  .    130     " 

Indian  Chief   (Chase)    None 

Planter   (Hussey)    None 

Thos.  S.  Hathaway  &  Capt.  Taber 
returned  from  N.  York  this  evening. 

28th.  The  Brig  Beneset — Capt. 
Gardner — arrived  from  the  Isle  of 
May  with  a  cargo  of  salt.  The  Sloop 
Ann  Maria  from  N.  York  with  the 
cargo  of  the  Experiment  got  above 
the  island  &  locked  in  with  the  Ice. 
A  large  party  at  Father's  of  Rotch's, 
Rodmans  &c.  A  ship  in  the  Cove 
with  a  signal  set  on  the  flag  staff — 
supposed  to  be  the  Richmond. 
March. 

1st.  The  Ann  Maria  got  up  to  the 
wharf.  Received  a  letter  from  Henry 
Grinnell,  also  Peveril  of  the  Peak  & 
the  Pioneers.  Dined  at  Jos.  Rotch's 
with  a  party  of  gentlemen — sat  down 
at  the  table  about  5  o'clock  and  staid 
till  nine.  In  the  evening  C.  H.  War- 
ren's brothers,  the  Doct'r  and  Pel- 
ham  came  in — just  arrived  from  Ply- 
mouth— we  had  a  very  merry  and 
pleasant  time  . 

2nd.  Catharine  came  down  to  dine 
for  the  first  time  since  she  was  con- 
fined,- Tom,  Moses  &  the  girls  dined 
with  us.  The  Ship  seen  in  the  Cove 
day  before  yesterday  arrived  this 
forenoon,.  It  was  the  Richmond 
(Capt.  Williams)  with  a  full  cargo  of 
elephant  oil.  This  evening  Jere'h 
Winslow  was  married  to  Miss  Norriss 
at  W.   R.   Rotch's. 

[ 


3.  The  ship  Com'e  Rodgers  tak- 
ing in  her  cargo  of  oil  for  Europe.  A 
cold  day  and  evening. 

4th.  A  cold  Gay.  Catharine  took 
tea  and  spent  the  evening  down  stairs. 
Nat,  Anna  &  Tom  with  us. 

5th.  Catharine  rode  out  this  fore- 
noon. The  girls  and  Warren  dined 
with  us,.  Mary  R.  Rotch  gave  a  wed- 
ding party  to  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Winslow — 
invited,  but  did  not  feel  well  enough 
to  go. 

6th.  A  stormy  day — did  not  leave 
the  house  all  day,  not  being  very  well. 
The  Nantucket  packet  Maria  arrived 
for  the  first  time  this  season. 

7th.  Nothing  worthy  of  being 
noted  this  day,  except  the  roguish 
conduct  of  P.  R.  Bates,  which  excites 
much  indignation  among  the  good 
people  he  has  duped. 

8th.  A  very  pleasant  day.  Consi- 
derable stir  about  the  wharves.  The 
whalemen  that  arrived  lately,  dis- 
charging the  Persia's  cargo  of  sperm 
oil,  settled  at  48  cents  p.  gall.,  the 
lowest  price  since  the  peace.  The 
Sch'r  Peacock — Capt.  Storms — ar- 
rived from  Rio  de  la  Hatch-  A  large 
party  at  father's.  Evening  passed  off 
very  pleasantly — part  of  the  time 
spent  in  dancing.  Catharine  made 
her  debut  for  the  first  time  from  her 
home  since  her  confinement.  She 
staid  all  night.     I  returned  home. 

9th.  Breakfasted  and  dined  at 
father's.  Returned  home  in  the  af- 
ternoon. Mr.  Maffit  again  in  town. 
His  second  appearance  on  the  stage 
does  not  seem  to  cause  as  much  ex- 
citement as  was  manifested  at  his 
first. 

10th.  The  ship  Europa — Capt. 
Dunbar — hauled  off  in  the  stream  this 
afternoon.  Capt.  De  Cost  arrived 
from    N,.    York. 

11th.  The  Europa  sailed  this 
morning  for  City  Point,  but  returned 


21 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


on  account  of  the  wind.  Thomas 
Rotch  left  this  forenoon  for  Phila. 
via  New  Port.  T.  Russell  took  him 
to  the  latter  place;  by  T.  Rotch  I 
wrote  to  Hen'y  Grinnell  to  get  infor- 
mation respecting  the  Savings  Bank 
in  N.  York.  At  a  party  this  eve'g  at 
Jos.  Rotch's.  Rained  very  hard  all 
the  evening. 

12th.  The  Commodore  Rodgers — 
Capt.  Smith — sailed  for  Amsterdam 
this  morning  with  a  cargo  of  whale 
oil.  Dined  with  a  party  of  gentlemen 
at  Nat.  Hathaway's — had  a  very 
sumptuous  time — staid  till  eleven, 

13th.  The  Europa  sailed  again 
this  morning,  but  returned,  the  wind 
being  unfavourable.  Dined  at  W.  T. 
Russell's  with  a  family  party. 

14th.  Commenced  raining  about 
noon  and  continued  to  storm  during 
the  day  &  evening.  A  flock  of  wild 
geese  were  seen  for  the  first  time  this 
spring. 

15th.  The  Europa  succeeded  in 
getting  to  sea  this  morning — very  high 
wind  all  day.  The  overseers  of  the 
meeting  visited  Mary  &  Susan  for  at- 
tending J.  Winslow's  marriage  and 
other  offences  of  equal  magnitude. 

16th.  Sunday — did  not  go  to  meet- 
ing all  day.  Read  Peveril  of  the 
Peak.  Warren,  Moses  &  Susan  dined 
with  us, 

17th.  A  dull  day.  A  party  at 
brother  William's  for  Jim  Coggeshall. 

18th.  Capt.  De  Cost  left  for  New 
York  by  the  way  of  Newport. 

19th.  The  ministers  &  elders  held 
a  meeting  today  for  the  purpose  of 
examining  M.  Rotch  &  E.  Rodman 
for  their  unity  with  M.  Newell,  &c. 

20th.  Commenced  snowing  this 
morning  about  sunrise  and  continued 
to  snow  till  noon.  A  pretty  large 
quantity  fell.  In  the  evening  more 
snow  fell. 

21st.     Rather   windy,.     Pretty   good 


sleighing.  Took  a  ride  in  the  after- 
noon. The  horse  threw  some  dirt  and 
snow  in  my  eye,  which  caused  me  a 
good  deal  of  pain  and  prevented  my 
being  at  brother  Wm's  in  the  evening 
at  a  large  party. 

22d.  Confined  to  the  house  all  day 
to  prevent  getting  cold  in  my  eye. 
Cousin  Tom  spent  the  greater  part 
of  the  day  and  evening  with  us. 

23d.  This  morning  about  3  o'clock 
sister  E.  T.  Grinnell  was  confined  with 
a  daughter,  which  is  a  very  pleasing 
thing  to  the  family.     The  wind  N.  E. 

From  twelve  to  fifteen  small  ves- 
sels sailed  this  morning  bound  to  the 
westward,  among  them  the  Rodman 
for  N.  York.  She  had  been  waiting 
a  wind  for  ten  days.  Jere'h  Winslow 
and  lady  were  among  the  passengers 
going  to  embark  for  Havre  at  N,. 
York.  W.  Swain  also  a  passenger  for 
Phila.  Cousin  Tom,  Moses  &  Susan 
dined  with  us.  On  the  23d  of  last 
month  I  attributed  part  of  the  fine 
spirits  which  Moses  was  in  to  its  be- 
ing his  birthday,  but  since  find  I  was 
mistaken,  and  it  was  all  owing  to  the 
other  source,  today  being  his  birth- 
day— twenty  years  old.  This  evening 
Mr.  Mafflt  preached  his  farewell  ser- 
mon. Catharine  never  having  heard 
him,  felt  a  strong  desire  to  attend  his 
meeting.  She  went  with  the  girls  & 
others.  She  was  not  well  pleased 
with  the  man,  and  had  not  much 
opinion  of  his  sincerity.  Miss  Ar- 
nold was  among  those  that  knelt  to 
receive  his  prayers.  O  Mores!  O 
tempores! 

24th.  Nothing  occurred  during  the 
day  to  be  noted. 

26th.  The  Brig  Parthian — Capt. 
Nye — arrived  this  morning,  35  days 
from  Lisbon  with  salt  &  wine.  We 
rec'd  a  quantity  of  Port  wine  for 
our  own  use  and  to  sell.  Capt.  Nye 
brings  accounts  that  there  Is  no  doubt 


[22  J 


From  a  portrait  owned  by  Mrs.  Morgan  Rotch. 

MOSES  H.  GRINNELL 
In  His  Youth. 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


in  Lisbon  but  what  Spain  &  France 
will  soon  be  at  war.  There  was  also 
a  report  that  the  French  had  cap- 
tured a  Spanish  frigate. 

26th.  A  steady  snow  storm  all  day 
— more  snow  has  fallen  this  day  than 
has  before  at  any  one  time  this  win- 
ter. Capt.  Hardin  came  off  from  the 
Vineyard.  The  Ship  Spermo  of  Nan- 
tucket from  coast  of  Japan  was  in  at 
Oldtown  with  2000  bbls.  sperm  oil — 
brings  a-c  of  the  foll'g  Bedford  ves- 
sels: 

June.     Roscoe    (Swain)    250 

Aug.    19.     Balaena    (Gardner) ...  1500 

Aug.    31.     Charles    (Coffin)     1250 

Aug.   31.     Columbus   (Brock)    ...1200 
Sept.     Independence    (Ham'd    ...1450 
At  Sandwich  Islands: 

Oct.     Frances    (Swain)     1300 

"      Triton    (Wood)     1200 

W.        &        L'pool        packet 

(Briggs)     1300 

Minerva  (Swain)    800 

"      Barclay    (Glover)    700 

Com'e  Decatur    (Tilton)    .  .    250 
(Leaky    &    under      repairs      at    the 
Sandwich  Islands.) 

Phoebe  Ann  put  away  for  homo  6 
weks  before   Spermo. 

27th.  The  trustees  of  the  Academy 
had  a  meeting  last  evening  to  alter 
one  of  their  rules,  that  no  one  but  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
could  be  a  Trustee.  Chs.  Swain  and 
Alice   Brayton   passed   meeting. 

An  arrival  in  to  New  London  from 
the  Banks  report  the  following  Bed- 
ford ships: 

Jan,.  Pacific     1000  bbls. 

Jan.  Millwood    1000      " 

Jan.  Martha    1400     " 

Jan.   16.     Timoleon    2000     '* 

Jan.     6,     Midas    900     " 

Dec.   14.     Maria  Theresa   ..1000      " 
Dec.   14.     Geo.  &  Martha  .  .    400      *' 

Dec.   25.     Victory 1100     '* 

Dec.  28.     Herald    600     M 


Dec.   28,.     Ann  Alexander  ..1250      " 
Nov.      Good  return    600     '* 

28th.  Very  bad  walking  Indeed — 
nothing  to  remark. 

29th.  The  large  quantity  of 
Sperm'i  oil  expected  this  summer 
from  the  Japan  fishery  by  the  a-c  by 
the  Spermo,  is  the  general  topic  of 
conversation,  and  the  general  belief 
that  this  article  will  decline  to  35  or 
33  1-3  cts.  p.  gall.  Retrenchment  of 
expenses  in  living  is  the  cry  on  all 
sides,  but  few  are  ready  to  commence. 
Cornelius  talks  strongly  of  going 
down  to  his  farm  to  live,  but  it  will 
probably  all  end  in  talk. 

30th.  Sunday.  Had  a  fine  leg  of 
roast  mutton  for  dinner.  Corn's  and 
Capt.  Smith  dinner.  Wind  very 
strong  to  the  eastward,  some  snow 
and  rain.  The  Ship  Martha  from  the 
Banks  with  a  full  cargo  of  whale  oil 
arrived  this  morning.  Nothing  later 
from  the  whalemen  except  the  Geo. 
&  Martha  with  1000  whale  &  120 
sperm. 

31st.  The  wind  blew  a  gale  all 
night  with  a  considerable  snow.  The 
storm  continued  during  the  whole  day 
and  we  had  by  far  the  most  tempestu- 
ous storm  this  day  that  we  have  had 
the  past  winter.  It  is  remarked  that 
the  month  of  March  this  year  has 
been  more  boistrous  than  for  a  num- 
ber of  years. 

April. 

1st.  The  Brig  Union  of  Dresden 
(Maine)  from  the  W.  Indies  with 
Rum,  Molasses,  &c.  got  ashore  on 
Cuttyhunk  during  the  storm  yester- 
day— some  prospect  of  her  being  got 
off.  The  Emily  got  ashore  in  Wood's 
Hole  &  parted  her  best  cable — sus- 
tained no  other  injury.  Yesterday 
and  today's  mails  did  not  reach  town 
till  eleven  this  evening — travelling  ex- 
ceeding bad. 


[25] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


2d.  The  Nantucket  packet  got  off 
with  the  friends  to  the  Quarterly 
Meeting.  She  spoke  the  ship  that  was 
going  down  the  Sound — it  was  the  Im- 
provement of  Nantucket,  been  out  33 
months.  The  packet  men  understood 
them  to  say  that  the  Swift  was  on 
the  coast  with  1200  barrels  which  we 
think  must  be  a  mistake,.  Key  of  the 
store  broken. 

3d.  Received  a  letter  from  Capt. 
Glover  of  the  Barclay  dated  11  Oct. 
He  was  then  Wahoo  with  800  bbls. 
After  recruiting  he  intended  to  go  to 
the  coast  of  Mexico.  Also  a  letter 
from  Capt.  Swain  of  the  Minerva  at 
the  same  place  with  800  bbls.  He 
intended  to  proceed  to  the  coast  of 
California  to  fill.  The  Brig  Traveller 
— Capt.  Warren — arrived  this  morn- 
ing with  200  barrels  sperm  oil.  The 
whole  crew  were  all  blacks.  Two  of 
the  crew  got  to  quarrelling,  and  one 
of  them  was  thrown  overboard  and 
drowned — the  other  was  brought 
home  in  irons. 

Quarterly  Meeting  day  a  public 
friend  here  from  the  state  of  Ten- 
nessee. In  the  last  meeting  there 
was  some  considerable  excitement 
caused,  during  the  business  in  the  ap- 
pointment of  an  elder.  Philip  Dun- 
ham made  some  observations  of  the 
importance  of  the  station  of  an  elder, 
that  great  care  should  be  taken  in 
selecting  them,  &c.  Corn's  Howland 
(Uncle  Casey)  followed  him  and  said 
that  he  heartily  approved  the  ap- 
pointment &  requested  that  the  meet- 
ing would  proceed  &  not  pay  any  at- 
tention to  what  Philip  had  said,  aa 
he  had  done  enough  to  cause  him 
to  be  under  dealing,  by  countenancing 
Contentious  and  disorderly  women 
(alluding  to  Mary  Newell  and 
Mary  Rotch).  Andrew  Robinson  im- 
ffmediately  rose  and  said  that  is  a 
lie!    (meaning  they  were   not  conten- 


tious). Nothing  more  was  said  & 
the  business  proceeded.  Cousin  Tom, 
Moses  and  Sue  dined  with  us.  In  the 
evening  attended  a  caucus  for  fur- 
thering the  election  of  W.  G.  Otis  for 
Gov.  of  the  State.  The  Rodman  ar- 
rived from  N.  York. 

4th.  Our  cousin  Thos.  S.  Russell 
left  us  this  morning  in  the  Sch.  Pea- 
cock to  New  York  on  his  way  to  Car- 
lisle in  Pennsyl'a.  Wind  N.  W.  blow- 
ing pretty  fresh.  He  had  spent 
about  ten  months  with  us  and  his 
friends  had  got  very  much  attached 
to  him.  His  leaving  will  cause  a 
blank  in  our  circle  which  will  not  be 
easily  filled.  In  the  afternoon  the 
wind  got  farther  to  the  westward  and 
cousin  Tom  came  back. 

5th.  Cousin  Tom  sailed  again  this 
morning,  wind  fair,  but  the  Sch'r  got 
aground  on  the  fort  flat  and  lay  there 
till  eleven  o'clock,  when  it  was  near- 
ly calm.  They  did  not  get  out  of  the 
bay  before  four  o'clock.     Wind  S.  W. 

6th.  The  Peacock  put  into  Padan 
Aram  and  cousin  Tom  returned  to 
town,  dined  and  spent  the  day  with 
us.  Warren  returned  from  Plymouth. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  a  Catholic 
priest,  preached  this  afternoon  & 
evening    at    Whitaker's    church. 

7th.  Town  meeting  day.  A  con- 
siderable opposition  to  the  old  town 
officers,  but  the  old  town  clerk, 
treasurer  &  collector  of  taxes  was  re- 
elected and  other  officers  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  the  better  &  more  respect- 
able part  of  the  inhabitants  were 
elected  in  opposition  to  the  influence 
of  Holme's  Society,  and  the  needy 
Shaylers  that  have  come  into  the 
town  the  year  or  two  past.  Great  ex- 
ertions were  made  this  afternoon  by 
the  Democrats  in  voting  for  governor. 
They  succeeded  in  getting  a  larger 
vote  than  has  been  given  since  we 
were  separated  from  Fairhaven. 


[26] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


Gov.  Otis,  325;  Eustis,  113. 

Lt.Gov.   Noble,  334;   Lincoln,   111. 

(Rotch  372,  Hodges  110, 
Senators] Starkweather  335,    Mason,  92, 
|Read     337,     Merribus     88. 

8th.  Uncle  Elkanah  went  to  Bos- 
ton this  morning  after  his  wife.  Wrote 
Henry  Grinnell  this  morning  by 
cousin  Tom  (who  is  still  detained  by 
contrary  winds)  to  make  a  deposit  in 
the  Savings  Bank  in  New  York  of 
$500  for  our  son  Edward  to  remain 
21  years  from  the  date  of  the  deposit. 
A  ship  gone  into  Tarpaulin  Cove  this 
afternoon,  supposed  to  be  the  Timo- 
leon.  The  a/c  tonight  from  Bostc^n 
of  the  state  of  the  votes  there  and  the 
neighbouring  towns  for  Governor,  are 
such  as  to  make  it  very  doubtful  if 
Otis  the  federal  candidate  is  elected, 
also  doubtful  whether  the  senators  in 
this  county  of  the  federal  ticket  will 
be  elected.  This  will  be  a  mortifying 
circumstance  to  Tom  Rotch.  The  New 
England  Gazette,  a  Democratic  paper, 
published  for  the  first  time  this  day. 

9th.  Wind  N.  E.  and  cousin  Tom 
has  succeeded  in  getting  out  of  sight 
of  Bedford  for  the  first  time  in  his 
several  attempts.  It  bids  fair  for  him 
to  have  a  fine  passage.  The  Timo- 
leon,  Capt.  Starbuck,  with  2300  bbls. 
whale  &  250  bbls.  of  sperm  oil  and 
6000  bone  arrived  from  the  Banks, 
brings  no  late  accounts  from  the 
whalemen. 

10th.  Micah  H.  Ruggles  and  Lydia 
Rodman  married.  Elisha  Haskell's 
wife   died    this   evening. 

11th.  Uncle  Elkanah  &  wife  re- 
turned from  Boston — Spent  the  eve- 
ning at  Nat's. 

12th.  Got  my  cask  of  Port  fixed 
in  the  cellar  to  settle.  Town  meeting 
day — held  in  the  Friends  old  meet- 
ing house.  There  was  a  great  excite- 
ment on  the  subject  of  money  for  the 
support  of  schools.      Some  wished  to 


raise  the  sum  of  $1200  in  addition  to 
$1400  already  in  the  town  treasury 
for  that  purpose.  Jas.  Arnold  and 
John  S.  Russell  spoke  at  a  consider- 
able length  against  and  Tim.  G. 
Coffin  in  favour  of  raising  the  addi- 
tional sum.  The  subject  was  discussed 
till  about  noon  when  the  vote  was 
taken  by  counting  of  hands;  ayes,  76; 
nays,  91,  but  there  being  a  good  deal 
of  objection  to  this  manner  of  decid- 
ing the  question  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  counting  the  hands,  the  meeting 
adjourned  till  the  afternoon  to  decide 
it  by  ballot.  T.  G.  Coffin  contended 
that  every  man  should  have  the  privi- 
lege whether  he  was  a  legal  voter  or 
not,  but  this  was  overruled  and  the 
subject  was  decided  in  the  negative, 
ayes  142;  nays  189.  This  and  other 
town  affairs  occupied  the  remainder 
of  the  day.  It  was  the  wish  of  the 
lower  with  some  of  the  middling 
class  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
&  most  of  Holmes*  society  with  J.  A. 
Parker  &  Tim.  G.  Coffin  at  their  head, 
to  have  all  the  children  of  the  Town 
to  be  educated  together  at  the  public 
expense  in  town  schools,  but  they 
found  the  town  too  aristocratic  to 
carry  a  thing  of  this  kind  into  opera- 
tion. The  Rodman  sailed  for  New 
York. 

13th.  A  very  pleasant  day.  The 
brig  Franklin — Capt.  Delano — with  a 
cargo  of  oil  sailed  for  Bremen  early 
this  morning.  Dined  at  father's — 
spent  the  evening  at  Nat's. 

14th.  N.  Hathaway  went  to  Bos- 
ton this  morning. 

15th.  The  Balaena — Capt.  Gard- 
ner— 4%  months  from  Wahoo  with 
2100  bbls.  sperm  oil  arrived  this  morn- 
ing having  been  absent  20  months, 
11  days.  Reports  the  following  Bed- 
ford vessels  later  than  the  Spermo: 
At  Wahoo  in  the  11th  month  1822. 


[27] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


Maryland Folger 1500    bbls. 

Minerva  Smyth .  .  M'Kenzie.  .1500 
Independence.  .  .Ham'd.  . .  .1600 

Roscoe Swain 600 

Heard     of     the     following     ships     in 

10th  mo. 

Abigail Covell 1400 

Columbus Brock 1350 

Geo.  &  Susan. ..  .Upham.  ..  .    900 

Capt.  Gardner  says  there  is  a  Rus- 
sian frigate  on  the  North  West  en- 
forcing the  Emperor  Alexander's  edict 
prohibiting  all  vessels  coming  near 
that  part  of  the  American  coast,  he 
claims.  Mary  &  Susan  had  another 
visit  this  forenoon  from  the  overseers 
of  the  meeting  to  labour  with  them 
respecting  their  dress  and  address, 
and  informed  that  they  should  make 
a  complaint  to  the  meeting.  Dined  at 
Cornelius'. 

16th.  The  Brig  Beneset  hauled  off 
in  the  stream.  The  brig  Elizabeth — 
Capt.  Blackamore — arrived  this  eve- 
ning from  the  Western  islands  with 
a  cargo   of  goatskins,   salt,   &c. 

17th.  Planted  some  potatoes  & 
sowed  raddish  seed.  The  overseers 
of  the  meeting  entered  a  regular  com- 
plaint in  the  preparative  meeting  this 
day  against  Mary  and  Susan  for  no*, 
conforming  to  the  Discipline  in  the 
all  important  points  of  Dress,  Ad- 
dress, attending  disordlerly  mar- 
riages (viz.  the  marriage  of  Jere'h 
Winslow  and  mine)  and  frequenting 
places  of  public  amusements.  After 
some  debate  it  was  concluded  to  car- 
ry the  complaint  up  to  the  monthly 
meeting  next  week,.  The  girls  have 
got  their  feelings  a  good  deal  excited, 
and  will  probably  resign  their  mem- 
bership. The  girls  with  Warren  & 
Moses  dined  with  us.  In  the  after- 
noon the  girls  came  down  to  the 
counting  room  to  be  weighed — Mary 
94,  Sue  90  Katy  88.  Mr.  Griffiths 
cams  in  the  stage  to  attend  the  trial 


next  week  in  Taunton  for  his  assault 
on  John  Randolph,  a  slave,  whom  ha 
attempted  to  carry  off. 

18th.  The  Brig  Wm.  Thacher — 
Capt.  Allen — arrived  this  morning  at 
7  o'clock,  71  days  from  Rio  de 
Janerio  with  coffee  and  sugar,  hav- 
ing made  a  very  bad  voyage  for  the 
shippers.  Capt.  sick,  not  having 
been  able  to  be  on  deck  for  two 
weeks   past. 

19th.     Planted  cucumber        and 

squash  seed.  The  Rodman  arrived 
in  27  hours  from  N.  York,  the  letters 
were  all  carried  to  the  Post  office, 
which  caused  much  trouble  and  vex- 
ation. Rec'd  from  Henry  Grinnell 
the  first  trees  I  sent  for,  also  a  book 
from  the  Savings  Bank  acknowledg- 
ing the  deposit  he  made  for  our  son 
Edward.  The  Beneset — Capt.  Gard- 
ner— sailed  this  morning  for  Charles- 
ton, but  returned  in  the  afternoon  on 
a-c  of  the  wind.  We  took  tea  and 
spent  the  evening  at  father's. 

20th.  Sunday.  This  morning  we 
had  an  edifying  sermon  from  Wm. 
James  on  the  great  importance  of 
dress.  He  alluded  pretty  pointedly 
to  Mary  &  Susan  on  the  sinfulness 
of  their  gay  attire.  Anna  Hathaway 
dined  with  us.  Thos.  Rotch,  wife 
and  Miss  Julia  Stockton  arrived 
from    Phila.,    also    Eliza    Rotch. 

21st.  Set  out  the  fruit  trees  re- 
ceived from  New  York.  Some  of  the 
crew  of  the  Pacific  got  in  town  for  a 
pilot,  left  her  in  Tarpaulin  Cove  with 
2000  bbls.  whale  oil.  Nat  Hathaway 
returned  from  Boston  this  day — had 
a  cancer  taken  out  just  under  his  eye. 
The  Ship  Persia  (Capt.  Merrihew) 
sailed  this  evening  for  Savannah  to 
load  for  Europe.  Concluded  to  go  to 
N.  York  in  the  Sophia  when  she 
goes. 

22d.  The  Brig  Beneset  — Capt. 
Gardner — sailed     this     morning     for 


[28] 


From  a  portrait  owned  by  Mrs.  Morgan  Rotch. 


MRS.  MOSES  H.  GRINNELL 

Who  was  Susan  Russell,  one  of  the  daughters  of  Gilbert  Russell,  who  resigned  from 
the  Society  of  Friends  rather  than  accept  discipline. 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


Charleston.  Dined  at  N.  Hathaway's. 
The  Pacific  got  up  above  the  Island. 
Catharine's  girl  Alice  came  to  live 
with  us  this  day.  W.  T.  Russell  went 
to  Taunton  to  sit  on  the  Jury.  Israel 
Thorndike  and  family  in  town  from 
Boston. 

23d.  The  Ann  Alexander — Capt. 
Bates — from  the  Banks  with  1600 
barrels  whale  oil  arrived  at  noon — 
brought  nothing  later  from  the  Bank 
fleet  than  before  received.  At  sunset 
some  thunder  and  lightning  with 
rain. 

24th.  Monthly  meeting  day.  Mary 
and  Susan  resigned  their  right  of 
membership.  Before  the  business  of 
the  meeting  commenced  Susan  went 
up  to  the  clerk  (who  had  taken  her 
seat)  and  handed  her  their  resignation 
and  requested  her  to  read  it  to  the 
meeting,  and  then  they  both  left. 
After  meeting  Mothei*.  Corn's,  L. 
Swain,  Anna,  Mary  &  Susan  with 
Moses,  came  to  our  house,  and  we  had 
the  doings  of  both  meetings  canvassed 
in  great  style.  In  the  men's  meeting 
great  concern  was  felt  by  Obadiah  & 
Job  that  the  meeting  should  be  in- 
formed why  the  marriage  of  Micah 
Ruggles  was  delayed  longer  than  was 
generally  customary.  Obadiah  said  it 
would  be  very  savory  to  him  if  some 
explanation  could  be  given,  that  if 
friends  would  consult  the  Lord  they 
would  go  forward  at  the  proper  time 
and  there  would  be  no  delay.  Peter 
Barney  informed  that  he  attended  the 
marriage  and  it  was  orderly  conduct- 
ed &  in  an  arch  manner  thought  the 
meeting  better  drop  the  subject  and 
they  had  made  their  report  to  the 
first  monthly  meeting  after  it  had 
taken  place.  Oba'h  observed  that  he 
did  not  mean  to  consult  the  over- 
seers; they,  he  presumed,  had  done 
their  duty — nothing  further  was  said 
on  this  subject.     Nothing  occurred  to 


cause  much  excitement  until  the 
women  came  in  to  inform  they  were 
about  denying  unity  with  two  or  three 
girls  for  marrying  contrary  to  disci- 
pline. The  first  cases  were  disposed 
of  pretty  freely,  but  the  last  caused 
them  to  flag  a  little;  none  approved 
of  it  but  Obadiah  &  Job  (the  butchers 
of  the  meeting)  a  considerable  pause 
ensued.  When  Ben'n  Rodman  rose  & 
said  he  rejoiced  to  find  them  pause, 
it  appeared  they  were  weary  of  this 
work  of  slaughter  &  death.  The  clerk 
(A.  Sherman,  Jr.)  rose  and  said  that 
it  had  fallen  to  his  lot  to  inform  the 
meeting  that  they  (the  overseers)  had 
had  an  interview  with  Cornelius 
Howland,  on  a/c  of  some  expressions 
he  had  made  use  of  at  the  last  quar- 
terly meeting  (see  3d  inst)  that  the 
friend  regretted  having  so  done  and 
requested  him  to  make  an  acknowl- 
edgement for  him  to  the  meeting. 
They  had  also  visited  A.  Robeson  for 
his  reply  to  Corn's  and  found  the 
words  were  entirely  unpremeditated 
on  his  part.  Micah  observed  he  was 
very  well  satisfied  with  the  friend's 
acknowledgement  as  far  as  it  went, 
but  wished  he  would  go  back  about 
a  year  and  make  an  acknowledgement 
for  the  abusive  language  &  insinua- 
tions he  made  in  the  quarterly  meet- 
ing about  his  friend  Benj'n  Rodman. 
Nothing  further  was  said  &  the  sub- 
ject was  dropped.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  meeting  B.  Rodman  observed 
that  he  intended  to  touch  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Select  Meeting,  that  the 
discipline  required  that  when  the 
monthly  meeting  thought  that  an- 
other Elder  was  necessary,  they  ap- 
pointed one,  but  now  the  Elders  were 
a  self-created  body,  that  they  took 
upon  themselves  to  appoint  whom 
they  pleased,  and  were  the  most  for- 
ward to  approve  in  the  monthly  meet- 
ing    their      own      appointments,    that 


[31  ] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


they  were  a  corrupt  branch  of  a  cor- 
rupt tree.  He  alluded  in  a  cutting 
way  to  the  conduct  of  Corn's  Howland 
&  Caleb  Green.  Ben's  remarks  were 
said  to  be  very  good.  This  is  all  I 
learnt  worthy  of  note  of  the  doings 
of  the  men's  meeting  this  day. 

In  the  women's  meeting  much  time 
was  taken  up  in  appointing  a  Com- 
mittee to  wait  on  Mary  &  Susan. 
Twelve  were  appointed  before  they 
could  get  three  to  serve.  While  they 
were  endeavouring  to  get  some  one  to 
serve  Sarah  Arnold  requested  the 
clerk  to  read  the  communication  of 
Mary  &  Susan,  and  that  might  prob- 
ably save  them  from  the  trouble  of 
the  appointment  of  a  committee. 
They  still  continued  to  nominate,  and 
Sarah  Morgan  also  requested  that  the 
clerk  would  read  what  the  girls  had 
handed  her.  No  notice,  however,  was 
taken  of  either  of  these  requests,  they 
being  not  of  the  right  stamp  in  the 
meeting.  Now  Debby  Otis'  ire  began 
to  rise.  She  said  that  it  was  wrong 
for  the  meeting  to  put  the  burthen  on 
a  few  and  insisted  on  some  one's  ac- 
cepting the  appointment.  At  last  they 
succeeded  and  this  important  trust 
was  given  to  Sands  Wing's  wife,  Oba- 
diah  Davis'  wife  &  Debby  Otis.  Then 
they  let  the  subject  rest  until  the 
other  business  was  completed.  When 
the  Clerk  read  the  girls'  note  &  re- 
quested to  be  informed  what  she 
should  do  with  it,  then  Debby  said 
this  indeed  confirms  me,  and  was 
echoed  by  her  satellites,  and  the 
meeting  ended.  This  alluded  to  some- 
thing she  had  before  observed  that 
the  overseers  had  performed  their 
duty  and  that  it  was  most  proper  for 
the  complaint  against  the  girls  to  be 
carried  before  the  monthly  meeting. 
No  instructions  were  given  the  clerk 
to     put     their     resignation     on     the 


records.      The   following  is  a  copy   of 
the  girls'  resignation: 
To   the   New   Bedford   Monthly   Meet- 
ing  of  Women   Friends: 

We  have  heard  the  report  of  the 
Overseers  against  us  (which  was 
laid  before  the  last  preparative  meet- 
ing) for  deviations  from  the  Disci- 
pline; some  of  which  have  long  been 
considered  by  the  Society,  not  very 
important  in  their  nature;  and  not 
such,  we  belileve,  as  friends  have 
deemed  necessary  to  lay  before  their 
meetings.  Altho*  we  have  a  regard 
for  the  Society,  and  fully  believe  in 
its  fundamental  principals; — yet  con- 
sidering the  conduct  of  some  of  the 
overseers  towards  us;  the  spirit  in 
which  the  report  was  carried  for- 
ward; its  reception  in  the  meeting; 
and  above  all,  the  present  situation 
of  the  meeting;  we  think  it  most 
proper  to  relinquish  our  right  of 
membership,  and  not  wishing  to  oc- 
casion Friends  any  trouble,  we 
request  that  a  Committee  may  not 
be  appointed  to  visit  us;  as  we  are 
unwilling  to  subject  ourselves  to  the 
repetition  <«f  interviews  similar  to 
those  we  have  had  with  the  overseers. 
Signed 

Mary    Russell, 
Susan    Russell. 

New  Bedford 

4    Mo.    24,    1823. 

25th.  Mary  and  Susan  received  a 
note  this  morning  from  the  commit- 
tee appointed  by  the  meeting  to  visit 
them,  requesting  an  interview  at  9 
o'clock.  They  wrote  them  word  they 
declined  seeing  them. 

26th.  The  Sophia  hauled  off  in 
the  stream  this  morn'g.  Purchased 
on  joint  account  with  Jos.  Rotch  100 
bags  coffee  from  the  Wm.  Thacher's 
cargo  at  25  cts.,  4  mo.  credit,  and 
have  put  it  on  board  the  Sophia  for 
exportation.        Wm.      T.      &      Warren 


[32] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


spent  the  evening  with  us.  They  had 
just  returned  from  Taunton.  Mr. 
Griffiths  case  was  referred  to  the  Law 
term. 

27th.  The  Ship  Geo.  &  Martha — 
Capt.  Randall — arrived  this  after- 
noon from  the  Brazil  Banks  with 
2000  bbls.  of  oil,  150  of  it  sperm. 
Brings  no  late  accounts  of  any  whale- 
men. 

28th.  This  morning  at  sunrise 
went  off  to  the  Sophia  and  got  under 
weigh  at  10  minutes  past  6  o'clock 
with  a  fine  N.  E.  wind  and  were  off 
Seconnet  point  at  20  minutes  past  9, 
when  the  wind  became  very  scant  and 
to  the  S.  E.  At  10  o'clock  we  were 
past  Point  Judith — at  4  abreast  of 
Watch  Hill  light,  wind  south — *4  past 
9  abreast  of  Gull  light.  During  the 
night  the  wind  was  very  light  and  at 
S.  W. 

29th.  The  wind  breezed  up  again 
a  little  about  sun  rise  to  the  N.  E.  and 
at  %  past  8  we  were  abreast  of  Falk- 
land island  light  house — wind  very 
light  indeed  and  the  weather  very 
pleasant — abreast  of  Mount  Misery  at 
Y*.  before  2  o'clock.  From  this  time 
until  4  o'clock  almost  calm,  when  the 
wind  sprang  up  to  the  southward 
with  a  small  breeze.  The  Ship  Leon- 
idas  which  got  under  weigh  yester- 
day morning  soon  after  we  did,  and 
was  in  sight  at  sunset,  has  not  been 
seen  today.  At  5  o'clock  wind  S.  W., 
a  considerable  breeze.  Took  in  the 
Royals  for  the  first  time  off  Hunting- 
don light  house.  The  breeze  lasted 
but  a  few  moments  and  it  was  calm 
all  night  with  slight  breezes.  At  sun- 
set twenty-seven  small  vessels  in 
sight. 

30th.  At  day  light  the  wind  breezed 
up  fair  again.  At  7  o'clock  Sands 
point  abreast  of  us.  At  20  minutes 
past  8  we  were  off  Frogs  point — the 
wind  very  scant.    About  eleven  a  pilot 


came  on  board  and  we  got  thro'  Hell 
gate  at  %  past  twelve.  It  was  very 
pleasant  sailing  from  Frogs  point  to 
the  City  from  30  to  40  sail  close  by  us 
all  the  time.  We  arrived  at  the  City 
at  3  o'clock — took  my  trunk  to  Bunk- 
er's in  Wall  street — found  Cousin  Tom 
Russell  here,  and  went  with  him  to 
Jos.  Grinnell'8  to  tea. 
May. 

1st.  Wind  N.  E.  with  some  rain — 
a  very  unpleasant  day.  Did  not  do  or 
see  much  all  day  except  get  a  few 
things  to  send  by  the  packet.  Spent 
the  evening  at  J.  Grinnell's. 

2d.  This  morning  took  a  long 
walk  up  the  East  river  with  Edward 
Cruft  to  see  the  shipping.  We  went 
into  the  cabins  of  several  of  the  line 
ships — they  were  fitted  up  in  elegant 
style.  Dined  at  Jos.  Grinnell's.  In 
the  evening  went  to  the  Theatre  to 
hear  Matthews  in  Monsier  Tonson.  I 
was  very  much  pleased  with  him  in- 
deed. The  scenery  of  the  theatre  ia 
superb — the  glass  curtain  had  a  fine 
effect,    particularly   in   dancing. 

3d.  Cousin  Tom  and  myself  took 
a  walk  to  see  the  Battery,  Judds 
Candle  works  &c — went  on  board  the 
steam  boat  Chancellor  Livingston.  She 
is  an  elegant  boat  and  fitted  up  in 
superb  style.  Cousin  Tom  dined  with 
me  and  in  the  afternoon  took  a 
long  walk  in  Broadway,  Tom  to 
see  the  pretty  girls,  and  I  to  see 
everything  I  could — did  not  find  many 
that  we  could  call  tolerably  handsome. 
In  the  evening,  as  we  had  nothing  to 
do,  we  went  again  to  the  Theatre. 
Very  few  people  there  when  the  first 
act  was  performed.  We  counted  but 
eleven  persons  in  the  boxes.  The  play 
was  the  Soldiers  Daughters,  and  the 
after  piece  the  Forty  Thieves.  I  had 
seen  the  same  play  performed  in  Bos- 
ton, but  I  think  there  was  better  act- 
ing this  evening. 


[33] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


4th.  Sunday,  Henry,  Cousin  Tom 
&  myself  went  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  a  little  while  this  morning. 
The  inside  of  the  building  is  strik- 
ingly grand.  We  soon  got  tired  of  their 
proceedings,  left  and  took  a  walk 
to  Richmond  Hill  Garden,  which  is  no 
great  thing — went  to  I.  W.  Russell's 
to  dine.  In  the  evening  took  a  walk 
alone  on  the  Battery.  They  are  at 
work  widening  this  place,  which  when 
done  will  add  very  much  to  its  beauty. 
It  was  a  lonesome  walk  to  me,  not 
meeting  among  a  thousand  persons 
one  that  I  knew.  I  returned  to  my 
lodgings  and  went  to  bed  at  8  o'clock 
quite  homesick. 

5th.  Rec'd  a  letter  from  Catharine 
very  unexpectedly,  which  put  me  in 
good  spirits.  Cousin  Tom  and  myself 
took  a  long  walk  and  then  went  to 
J.  Grinnell's  to  accompany  Sally, 
Sarah,  Mary  Minturn  &  Mary  A.  Rus- 
sell on  board  the  Cortes,  to  partake 
of  a  collation.  Her  cabin  is  fitted  up 
in  grand  style — red  damask  curtains, 
a  great  deal  of  gilt  work  and  every- 
thing in  the  neatest  order.  After  re- 
turning from  the  Cortes  Henry,  Cousin 
Tom  and  myself  took  a  hack  and  went 
out  to  see  the  Stepping  Mill  which  was 
in  full  operation.  There  were  thirty 
persons  on  a  wheel  at  a  time,  and  as 
many  more  seated  that  every  half 
minute  a  bell  rings  by  machinery;  one 
comes  off  &  another  takes  his  place, 
so  each  have  fifteen  minutes  rest.  Up 
stairs  the  females  were  at  work.  There 
were  about  half  as  many  as  in  the 
men's  apartment.  It  appeared  very 
hard  work  for  them.  From  thence  we 
went  to  Harlem  bridge,  and  had  a 
very  pleasant  ride.  Took  tea  at  J. 
Grinnell's  and  staid  there  till  10 
o'clock  and  returning  got  as  far  as  the 
Theatre,  and  not  feeling  much  inclina- 
tion to  sleep,  went  in.  Mr.  Matthews 
was    playing    the    Polly    Packet.    His 


description  of  the  passengers  was  won- 
derful. He  is  a  very  good  ventriloquist. 
It  was  astonishing  with  what  rapidity 
he  changed  his  dress  &  appeared  in  a 
new  character 

uin.  News  received  this  morning 
of  the  Declaration  of  War  by  France 
against  Spain,  and  that  hostilities  had 
commenced.  This  intelligence  has 
caused  business  to  revive  and  the  pros- 
pect seems  very  good  for  our  obtaining 
a  freight  for  the  Sophia  today.  Very 
much  to  my  regret,  Cousin  Tom  left 
here  this  morning  for  Phila.  I  shall 
miss  his  company  very  much.  From 
one  to  three  o'clock  I  amused  myself 
by  walking  up  and  down  Wall  street 
and  stopping  at  the  Coffee  house — 
every  body  in  a  hurry — all  bustle  & 
confusion.  This  afternoon  I  met  a 
procession  of  about  three  thousand 
children  belonging  to  the  Sunday 
Schools  all  with  badges,  and  at  the 
schools  one  of  the  boys  carried  a  flag 
on  which  was  painted  the  name  of  the 
church  to  which  his  school  belonged. 
Went  to  see  the  painting  of  the  ship 
wreck  of  the  Albion.  It  was  a  very 
dark  painting.  It  did  not  please  my 
eye  much.  Took  tea  at  J.  Grinnell's. 
Mr.  Green  was  there.  Had  a  great  deal 
to  say  about  Dover — regretted  very 
much  his  not  being  there  while  we 
were   last  summer  &c,  &c. 

7th.  Did  not  do  or  see  much  dur- 
ing the  day.  In  the  evening  felt 
lonesome  and  went  to  the  Theatre. 
The  play  was  the  Clandestine  Mar- 
riage. Mr.  Matthews  performed,  and 
I  was  well  pleased  with  the  evening's 
entertainment,  particularly  so  as  I 
met  with  an  adventure.  I  was  seat- 
ed in  the  second  row,  in  one  of  the 
front  seats  next  a  partition,  to  a  box 
where  a  tall  genteel  looking  gentle- 
man sat  with  two  ladies.  Just  before 
the   afterpiece   commenced   he  turned 


[34] 


.    ,^  >;.  ■  »» 


i 


From  a  portrait  owned  by  Lawrence  Grinnell. 
GILBERT  RUSSELL 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


around  to  me  and  requested  I  would 
do  him  the  favour  to  take  a  seat  with 
the  ladies,  as  he  was  under  the 
necessity  of  leaving  for  a  short  time, 
which  I  did.  One  appeared  to  be 
about  sixteen,  not  handsome — the 
other,  say  thirty,  quite  interesting  in 
her  appearance.  While  the  after- 
piece was  performing,  the  eldest  lady 
observed,  that  is  Mr.  Richies,  point- 
ing to  one  on  the  stage,  and  made 
some  remarks  respecting  him,.  I  did 
not  appear  to  take  much  interest  in 
him,  and  inquired  if  he  performed  in 
the  play.  She  appeared  quite  struck 
and  said  that  he  was  with  them  dur- 
ing the  play,  and  asked  me  if  I  was 
not  acquainted  with  him.  She  ap- 
peared very  much  surprised  when  I 
told  her  I  had  never  seen  him  before, 
as  she  understood  him  to  say  I  was 
an  acquaintance.  Then  she  told  me 
Mr.  Richies  was  her  husband  and  be- 
longed to  the  Theatre.  We  had  a 
very  pleasant  chat.  After  the  per- 
formance was  concluded  and  the 
boxes  nearly  cleared,  and  no  Mr. 
Richies  appearing,  they  appeared 
considerably  mortified  at  their  situa- 
tion. I  offered  to  accompany  them 
home,  which  they  accepted,  and 
thanked  me  very  politely.  I  must 
confess  altho'  I  had  no  right  to  have 
any  suspicions  of  them,  still  I  could 
not  help  feeling  a  number  of  times 
during  the  evening  that  I  had  been 
duped  by  some  one,  but,  however, 
considering,  I  was  a  stranger,  I  was 
determined  to  take  things  as  they 
should  be  and  not  to  be  too  sus- 
picious. I  waited  on  them  a  consid- 
erable way  up  Broadway,  and  then 
down  Chamber  street  towards  the  N. 
River  and  left  them  at  a  genteel  look- 
ing house.  There  was  nothing  in 
their  manners  or  appearance  that  I 
could    construe      aught    against,    only 


the  singularity  of  their  situation,  their 
accepting  my  offer  to  accompany 
them  home,  after  knowing  I  was  a 
stranger,  and  entirely  unacquainted 
with  Mr.  Richies.  They  regretted 
that  they  had  put  me  to  so  much 
trouble,  and  thanked  me  for  my  po- 
liteness. I  came  home  undecided  in 
my  mind  whether  I  was  hoaxed  or 
that  they  were  whom  they  represent- 
ed,  but  I  am  determined  to  find  out,. 

8th.  A  rainy  day.  Spent  most  of 
it  in  the  house.  Got  an  offer  to  load 
one-half  the  Sophia  for  Hamburg 
and  have  put  her  up  for  that  place. 
Took  tea  and  spent  the  evening  at 
Henry's.  It  seemed  almost  like  home. 
Not  ascertained  to  my  satisfaction 
about  last  evening's  adventure,  but 
have  it  in  a  fair  train. 

9th.  The  person  that  I  requested 
to  ask  Mr.  Richies  if  he  did  leave 
his  wife  in  the  Theatre,  told  me  that 
he  did  but  he  concluded  some  of  his 
acquaintance  would  see  her  in  the 
course  of  the  evening  and  escort  her 
home,  and  finding  her  gone  conclud- 
ed this  to  have  been  the  case.  Re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Catharine  and 
one  from  Moses.  Finished  a  letter  to 
C.  and  sent  it  by  mail  and  in  the  after- 
noon wrote  again  by  a  sloop.  Aunt 
Sally  Russell  came  from  New  Bed- 
ford in  the  Rodman.  Succeeded  thi3 
forenoon  in  obtaining  a  full  freight 
for  the  Sophia  to  Hamburgh — John 
Jacob  Astor  the  principal  shipper.  Re- 
ceived a  very  pressing  invitation  from 
Henry  and  Sarah  to  come  and  take  up 
my  abode  with  them,  which  I  have 
accepted,  as  I  did  not  like  Wall  street 
house  at  all,  so  much  noise  and  con- 
fusion. 

10th.  Took  out  of  the  Ship  most 
of  her  ballast,  ready  to  commence 
loading  second  day.  Spent  two  hours 
this  morning  with     Sarah     to     make 


[37] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


some  purchases  for  Catherine — took 
tea  and  spent  the  evening  at  J.  W. 
Russell's,  and  returned  to  my  new 
residence  about  10  o'clock.  A  very 
fine  day. 

11th.  Sunday.  Went  with  Henry 
&  Sarah  to  the  friends  meeting  in 
Hester  street — no  preaching  worth 
mentioning.  Capt.  Crocker  arrived 
this  morning  from  Liverpool.  In  the 
evening  a  large  number  of  Sarah's  re- 
lations called  to  see   her. 

12th.  A  pleasant  day — got  all  the 
ballast  out  of  the  ship  &  took  in  fifty 
casks  rice.  The  ship  Maria  which 
arrived  yesterday  from  London 
brought  over  the  famed  horse  Roman. 
The  people  were  flocking  all  day  to 
see  him.  The  ship  lay  alongside  the 
Sophia  in  the  morning  and  the  crowd 
was  so  great  passing  &  repassing  her 
deck  that  we  were  obliged  to  get  the 
master  of  the  Maria  to  let  us  haul 
his  ship  across  the  dock,  but  the  cur- 
iosity of  the  people  was  so  great  that 
they  kept  two  boats  constantly  plying 
between  the  ship  and  the  wharf  and 
paid  12%  cents  each.  It  was  very 
amusing  to  see  what  interest  the 
horse  excited.  He  is  said  to  be  a  su- 
perb horse.  I  went  on  board  to  see 
him.  He  has  a  beautiful  head  and 
neck.  The  Eliza  Nicoll  arrived  at  1 
o'clock.  Rob't  Smith  came  in  her. 
Rec'd  no  letter  from  Catharine,  much 
to  my  disappointment. 

13th.  Rained  all  day.  Were  un- 
able to  do  anything  on  board  the  ship. 
Henry  and  myself  dined  at  Benj'n 
Minturn's.  Had  a  very  pleasant  time, 
and  was  vejy  much  pleased  with  my 
visit.  His  daughters  Elizabeth  &  Pen- 
elope were  very  sociable,  as  well  as 
their  brothers  William  and  Robert. 

14th.  A  pleasant  day.  Got  the 
coffee  &  sugar  all  weighed  and  taken 
into  the  ship  again,  and  about  fifty 
casks  of  rice  stowed  away.     Put  some 


radishes  on  board  the  Rodman  (who 
was  to  have  sailed  today)  for  Cathar- 
ine. Sarah  had  a  tea  party  this  aft- 
ernoon— Jos.  &  Sally — Aunt  Sally — 
Her  mother  and  Mary  Ann.  Had  a 
pleasant  time. 

15th.  Made  considerable  progress 
in  loading  the  ship.  In  the  afternoon 
Henry  and  myse'f  went  over  to  the 
Navy  yard.  Went  on  board  and  all 
over  the  Washington  and  Ohio,  74 
and  a  new  frigate  on  the  stocks  near- 
ly completed.  I  was  very  much  grati- 
fied with  our  work — returned  to  my 
home  to  tea  where  were  a  Miss  Hart- 
shorn, Eliz.  &  Penelope  Minturn,  and 
Sarah's  sister  Mary,  also  William  and 
Robert  Minturn.  We  had  a  very 
agreeable  evening. 

16th.  Not  very  pleasant,  in  the 
afternoon  it  rained,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  break  off  work.  Very 
much  disappointed  in  not  receiving 
any  letters  £rom  home..  Rob't  Smith 
took  tea  with   us  at  Henry's. 

17th.  Very  warm  and  pleasant. 
Spent  most  of  the  day  on  board  the 
ship.  Invited  to  take  tea  at  Geo. 
Hussey's.  Did  not  go  till  evening. 
Found  them  very  pleasantly  situated 
in  Broome  street — staid  about  an 
hour  and  returned  home. 

18th.  Sunday.  Went  to  Pearl 
street  meeting  this  morning  to  hear 
Edward  Hicks  from  Pennsylvania 
preach.  He  held  forth  for  about  two 
hours  in  a  very  able  manner.  He 
used  plain,  strong  language.  The 
principal  subject  of  his  discourse  was 
against  traditional  experience  upon 
which  he  expatiated  very  largely  and 
also  had  a  good  deal  to  say  respect- 
ing the  unchristian  spirit  that  pre- 
vailed among  many  for  condemning 
those  who  differed  from  them  in 
some  little  points.  He  also  depre- 
cated   in    a    very    strong  manner  the 


[38] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


Bible  &  Missionary  Societies.  Went 
in  the  afternoon  to  Hester  street 
meeting.  Edward  Hicks  was  there 
and  he  gave  us  another  sermon  of 
more  than  two  hours.  His  principal 
topics  were  the  injury  done  the 
world  by  hireling  priests.  He  said 
he  called  all  hireling  priests  whether 
they  received  pay  or  not,  if  they  were 
not  commissioned  from  God  to 
preach.  He  also  had  a  great  deal 
to  say  again  respecting  the  injury 
that  was  resulting  from  tradition. 
Both  meetings  were  fully  attended. 
From  what  I  could  learn,  I  believe 
his  sentiments  were  generally  ap- 
proved, but  among  the  elder  part  of 
the  Society  there  were  a  number 
that  disapproved  his  sentiments  in 
some  measure.  The  ship  Leeds 
arrived  this  day  in  23  days  from 
Liverpool,  and  brings  accounts  that 
the  French  had  actually  entered 
Spain  and  that  war  had  commenced. 

19th.  Business  appeared  to  have 
revived  a  little  in  consequence  of  the 
news  received  yesterday.  Went  on 
board  the  packet  ship  Leeds.  Her 
cabin  is  fitted  up  in  superb  style, 
equal  to  any  parlour  I  ever  saw. 
Prince  Marat,  nephew  to  Napoleon, 
arrived  this  day  from  Hamburgh.  He 
is  not  very  prepossessing  in  his  ap- 
pearance. His  mustachios  were  not 
shaved,  which  gave  him  rather  a 
savage  look.  He  contemplates  spend- 
ing some  time  in  this  country.  He 
got  permission  to  come  to  this  coun- 
try by  agreeing  never  to  enter  the 
Austrian  dominions.  Mary  Minturn 
&  M,.  Ann  Russell  took  tea  with  us. 
About  ten  o'clock  had  a  very  heavy 
shower  of  rain. 

20th.  An  excessive  warm  day.  Did 
not  get  along  much  on  board  the  ship. 

21st.  Busy  all  the  morning  arrang- 
ing so  that  I  could  leave  in  the  after- 


noon for  home.  Called  to  see  Cousin 
Fanny  &  at  Jos.  Grinnell's.  Henry  in- 
troduced me  to  Mr.  Winnerholm,  a 
young  man  from  Gothenburg  going  in 
the  steam  boat  to  Providence.  Rec'd  a 
note  from  Capt.  Fish  to  dine  with  him 
in  company  with  Prince  Murat.  In  the 
afternoon  left  in  the  steam  boat  for 
Newport — found  Rob't  Smith  on  board 
and  Thos.  Riddle — spent  the  evening 
very  pleasantly.  Found  Mr.  Winner- 
holm  very  talkative.  He  introduced  me 
to  Mr.  Perkin,  son  of  Thos.  H.  of  Bos- 
ton. It  was  calm  all  night.  Went  to 
bed  at  10  but  was  not  able  to  get  much 
sleep,  the  jarring  of  the  boat  was  so 
great. 

2 2d.  Several  showers  of  rain  from 
sunrise  till  9  o'clock.  Got  up  this 
morning  at  4  o'clock.  Found  it  much 
pleasanter  on  deck  than  in  the  cabin. 
There  is  upward  of  sixty  passengers  on 
board.  A  good  deal  amused  with  Mr. 
Geo.  W.  Sturgis,  a  supercargo  dandy. 
At  12  o'clock  we  got  to  New  Port 
where  I  found  Harry  with  the  horse 
&  gig  waiting  for  me.  Went  and  saw 
my  sister  Mary.  Dined  at  Townsend's 
and  at  2  Rob't  and  myself  started  in 
the  gig,  Thos.  Riddle  and  Henry  in 
a  hack,  and  got  home  at  8  o'clock. 
Very  much  pleased  once  more  to  get 
back  to  my  native  village.  In  the  even- 
ing the  girls,  Corn's  &  Warren  were  at 
our  house. 

23d.  Moses  left  this  morning  in  the 
Rodman  for  New  York,  also  Tom 
Hathaway.  The  Brig  Juno  arrived  this 
forenoon.  Took  tea  at  Nath's  and  had 
a  very  pleasant  evening. 

24th.  Warren  dined  with  us. 
Hardly  got  into  the  regular  routine 
of  business  at  the  store. 

25th.  Sunday.  Corn's  &  the  girls 
dined  with,  passed  a  very  pleasant 
day — did  not  go  to  meeting. 

26th.     Mr.  Wennerholm  of  Gothen- 


[39] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


burg  came  in  town  this  afternoon 
from   Providence. 

27th.  Spent  most  of  the  forenoon 
with  Mr.  Winnerholm,  who  dined 
with  me,  also  Corn's,  Warren  and 
Susan.  In  the  afternoon  Mr.  W.  and 
myself  took  a  ride  round  the  river 
and  returned  to  our  house  and  spent 
the  evening. 

28th.  The  Ship  Martha — Capt. 
Reed — sailed  this  morning  for  the 
Brazil  Banks.  Our  servant  Henry 
left  this  day  for  Boston.  Took  tea 
at   father's. 

29th.  A  fine  rain.  The  Sloop  Ann 
arrived  at  8  a.  m.  Reed  a  letter 
from  Moses,  mentioning  that  Eclipse 
had  best  Sir  Henry  at  the  great  race 
on  Long  Island  for  a  bet  of  $20,000. 
Great  rejoicings  in  New  York  at  the 
successful  termination  of  the  race  in 
favour  of  the  northern  horse,.  Mr. 
"Winnerholm  spent  the  evening  with 
us — he  leaves  tomorrow  for  Ply- 
mouth. 

30th.  The  Brig  Wm.  Thacher 
sailed  this  morning  for  Bremen  with 
a  cargo  of  whale  oil.  Paul  Howland, 
mate.  In  the  afternoon  the  Eliza 
Nicoll  sailed  for  New  York. 

31st.,  The  ship  Richmond — Capt. 
Covel — sailed  early  this  morning  for 
the  Brazil  Banks.  A  cold  wind  and 
a  blustering  day.  The  evening  pleas- 
ant— took  a  walk  with  Wm.  &  Syl- 
via and  Mary  up  to  Father's  farm. 

June. 

1st.  Sunday.  Took  a  ride  with 
Cath.  and  Willy  over  to  Padanaram,. 
Mary  and  Susan  dined  with  us,  had 
roast  beef  for  dinner  (a  great  rarity 
this  season  of  the  year).  After  din- 
found  'Neal  and  Warren.  Took  a 
walk  with  them  back  of  Uncle  Abra- 
ham's and  returned  to  Nat's  to  drink 
a  little  wine.  The  Ship  Victory — 
Capt.   Adams — arrived   this  afternoon 


from   the   Banks  with    1500   bbls.    oil, 
(70  of  it  sperm)   and   2500   bone. 

2d.  Thos.  T.  Churchell  failed  this 
day,  but  it  is  supposed  he  will  pay 
all  demands  against  him.  Had  the 
large  blinds  painted  in  the  new  room. 
Ch's  W.  Flemming  arrived  in  town 
this  evening. 

3d.  Rec'd  a  letter  from  J.  W, 
Russell  stating  the  Sophia  sailed  last 
Friday,  30th  inst. — makes  nearly  £900 
freight.  The  Brig  Dragon  arrived 
this  afternoon  with  only  150  bbls. 
whale  and  elephant  oil.  They  sur- 
veyed nearly  300  miles  of  the  coast 
of  Patagonia,  but  could  not  find  any 
elephants. 

4th.  The  Rodman  got  in  this  af- 
ternoon. Rec'd  a  letter  from  Moses. 
Very  pleasant  weather. 

5th.  The  warmest  day  we  have 
had  this  season,  the  thermometer  at 
1  o'clock  at  80  degrees.  Wm.  T.  and 
Warren  dined  with  me.  John  How- 
land,  Jar,,  and  Thos.  Hathaway  and 
sister  returned  from  New  York  by  the 
steamboat.  This  afternoon  the  ship 
Columbus — Brock — arrived  from  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  last  from  Valparaiso 
with  1800  bbls.  sperm  oil.  Brought 
a  large  quantity  of  specie  for  per- 
sons in  Boston  and  some  for  the  own- 
ers of  the  Emerald  of  Fairhaven. 

Reports  the  following  ships  left  on 
the   coast   of   Japan,    Mexico,   Peru   & 
Chili: 
Nov.     Geo.  &  Susan  (Up- 

ham)     1000  bbls. 

Phenix  (Worth)..  50 
Swift  (Pinkham)  .  400 
Wm.    Rotch       (To- 

bey)     20 

Dec.     Portia    (Ray)     400 

Iris     (Hathaway) .  .    1400 

Abigail      (Covell)  .  .    1700 

"       Florida    (Price)...      400 

Charles    (Coffin)..    1300 


[40] 


HENRY  GRINNELL 

Mr.  Grinnell  financed  a  number  of 
Dr.  Kane's  Arctic  expeditions. 
Grinnell  Land  was  named  for  him. 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


March.   Maria     (Sprague).  40  bbls. 

Mercury     (Austin).      150 

Also  arrived  the  ship  Maria 
Theresa — Wilcox — from  the  Banks 
with  2100  bbls.  whale  oil.  Coming 
into  the  river  the  Vineyard  pilot  ran 
her  on  a  ledge  of  rocks  to  the  S.  W. 
of  Black  Rock — at  nearly  high  tide. 
The  sloop  Emily  went  down  this  eve- 
ning to  lighten  her. 

6th.  The  ship  Amazon — Eldridge 
— from  the  Brazil  Banks  with  1500 
bbls.  whale  oil  arrived  last  night — 
the  last  ship  that  will  come  from 
the  Banks  this  season.  Got  up  to 
the  wharf  at  sunset — when  also  the 
Maria  Theresa  came  to  anchor  in  the 
stream,  having  got  off  the  rocks  at 
high  water  without  sustaining  any 
damage  of  consequence. 

7th.  The  Eliza  Nicol  arrived  this 
afternoon  from  N.  York,  having  lost 
the  head  of  her  mast  in  a  squall  night 
before  last  in  the  Race.  Rec'd  a  few 
lines  from  Moses  mentioning  the  ar- 
rival of  the  Scfr.  Magnolia — Capt. 
Hitch — at   N.   York. 

8th.  Sunday.  A  fine  rain  all  day, 
but  rather  cold.  A  young  man  from 
near  Poughkeepsie  by  the  name  of 
Hill  Barton  preached  a  long  sermon 
in  the  morning.  I  was  not  there, 
but  heard  he  riveted  the  attention 
of  the  whole  meeting — he  was  an  en- 
tire stranger — known  to  none  in 
town.  Andrew  Robeson  invited  him 
to  dine  with  him.  In  the  afternoon 
I  went  to  hear  him — he  preached 
about  two  hours  in  a  very  interesting 
manner.  He  informed  us  he  had 
formerly  belonged  to  the  Society,  but 
was  not  now,  that  he  considered  him- 
self a  true  Quaker,  disclaimed  the 
Discipline  and  all  forms.  His  senti- 
ments were  completely  what  is  called 
New  Light.  He  is  about  twenty-four 
years  of  age   and   has   a   fine   counte- 


nance. Wrote  Cousin  Tom  a  long 
letter  by  mail — also  to  Moses.  Henry 
returned  from  Boston  &  resumed  his 
station.  Dr.  Read's  son  Wm.  Alex- 
ander, died  this  day  with  the  dysen- 
tery— aged   9  months. 

9th.  A  considerable  talk  today  res- 
pecting young  Barton  who  preached; 
him  to  a  very  superior  young  man. 
most  that  I  heard  speak  of  him  think 
'Neal,  Nat  &  Macy  dined  with  us. 
Took  tea  at  'Neal's  with  the  girls 
and  in  the  evening  went  to  the  Meth- 
odist Chapel  to  hear  young  Barton, 
who  had  appointed  a  meeting  there. 
The  house  was  well  filled.  He  gave 
us  a  very  good  sermon.  A  consider- 
able number  of  young  friends  were 
there,  but  none  of  the  old  ones.  Syl- 
via on  returning  from  meeting  turned 
her   ancle   and    sprained    it. 

10th.  Weather  very  cool.  The  ship 
Corn's  Rodgers — Smith — arrived  from 
Amsterdam  40  days  passage.  Dr. 
Read's  child  buried  this  afternoon. 

11th.  Ship  Ann  Alexander — Bow- 
en — sailed  for  the  Brazil  Banks,  also 
Sloop  Rodman  for  New  York.  Chas. 
W.  Morgan  went  in  her  for  Phila. 

12th.  Attended  meeting — received 
a  long  sermon  from  young  Barton. 
When  he  had  finished  Debby  Otis 
made  a  few  remarks  which  coincided 
in  sentiment  with  what  Barton  had 
advanced,  but  desired  friends  to  be 
careful  not  to  be  blown  about  by  every 
whiff  of  doctrine  &c  &c.  After  this 
young  Barton  made  a  prayer.  Before 
the  meeting  closed  Benj'n  Rodman 
rose  and  said  that  his  friend  Hall 
Barton  would  hold  a  meeting  at  the 
North  Baptist  meeting  house  this  eve- 
ning. This  being  preparative  meet- 
ing day,  they  again  brought  forward 
a  complaint  against  Ben.  Rodman 
from  the  overseers  without  stating 
for  what  offence   he  was  complained 


[43] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


of,  but  they  were  not  able  to  carry 
it  thro*  and  the  meeting  ordered  it 
back  to  the  overseers  to  be  remodeled. 
In  answering  the  Queries,  Job  Otis 
said  that  he  thought  the  one  respect- 
ing unbecoming  behaviour  ought  not 
to  be  answered  clear,  as  they  had 
witnessed  that  day  the  unbecoming 
behaviour  of  Ben  Rodman,  in  inform- 
ing friends  of  the  appointment  of  a 
meeting  by  one  who  was  not  a  friend. 
No  notice  however  was  taken  of  Job's 
sage  remark.  Dined  at  Corneiius'  on 
roast  pig.  Had  company  to  tea  at 
home — Jos.  Ricketson  &  E.  Their  at  on 
with  their  wives.  Lydia  Thornton  & 
Mary  &  Susan.  Had  a  very  pleasant 
evening.  Mary  &  L.  Thornton  left  to 
attend  the  meeting.  I  could  not  leave 
on  account  of  my  company. 

13th.  The  girls  dined  with  us.  Re- 
ceived a  letter  by  Mail  from  Moses 
saying  that  he  should  be  in  Newport 
on  Sunday.  About  10  o'clock  went 
down  to  Uncle  Humphrey  with  War- 
ren— had  a  supper  and  a  very  clever 
time — received  the  pleasing  intelli- 
gence that  Mary  R.  Rotch  has  agreed 
to  give  her  hand  to  Chas.  W.  Flem- 
ming. 

14th.  The  Sch'r  Eliza  Barker  with 
125  bbls.  sperm  oil  arrived.  Corn's, 
&  Susan,  Father  &  Mary,  Jos.  How- 
land  and  myself  left  here  in  gigs  at  2 
o'clock  for  Newport  to  escort  Moses 
home — had  a  very  pleasant  ride  and 
got  there  at  8  in  the  evening — put  up 
at  Townsend's — Hull  Barton  staid 
there  also — Corn's  &  him  had  a  long 
conversation  together — he  is  a  very 
pleasant   &   interesting  companion. 

15th.  Sunday.  Went  to  meeting. 
Had  a  long,  dull  and  uninteresting 
serman  from  Henry  Hull,  of  whose 
Gospel  ministry  I  did  not  form  a  very 
high  opinion  of — do  not  think  him 
equal  to  his  nephew  Hull  Barton. 


Moses  got  here  at  4  o'clock  this 
afternoon  in  the  steamboat  from  New 
York.  I  was  very  glad  to  see  him. 
Went  to  meeting  again  this  afternoon, 
and  had  another  sermon  and  prayer 
from  H.  Hull — as  uninteresting  as  the 
morning's  service — says  too  much  of 
himself  that  has  a  tendency  to  disgust 
his  hearers.  Heard  that  Hull  Barton 
walked  out  to  Portsmouth  meeting — 
he  appeared  in  supplication;  as  soon 
as  Moses  Brown  discovered  whom  it 
was, — He  requested  him  to  stop,  but 
he  paid  no  attention  to  him.  Moses 
continued  talking,  requested  friends  to 
touch  him.  but  no  one  felt  confident 
enough  to  lay  hands  on  him.  After 
meeting  he  got  up  on  an  eminence  in 
the  yard  and  addressed  about  two 
thirds  of  the  meeting,  who  stopped  to 
hear  him.  His  sentiments  were  gen- 
erally approved. 

16th.  Our  party  went  out  to  a 
place  on  the  island  called  Purgatory 
— a  pleasant  ride — it  is  a  chasm  in  a 
rock — the  sides  are  perpendicular 
about  15  feet  wide — the  sea  rushes  in 
and  gives  it  rather  a  wild  appearance. 
Returned  to  town  and  left  there  for 
home  at  11 — got  to  the  Head  of  West- 
port  at  3  where  we  dined  and  staid 
till  5 — found  ourselves  at  7  once  more 
at  home.  Spent  the  evening  at 
father's. 

17th.  A  warm  day.  Jos.  Rotch 
went  over  to  Newport  this  morning 
to  see  that  Barton  had  fair  play  shewn 
him. 

18th.  The  ship  Timoleon — Capt. 
Starbuck — sailed  for  the  Banks.  Sch'r 
Packer  arrived  at  Fairhaven  with 
160  bbls.  sperm  oil — oil  has  risen  at 
Nantucket  to  46  cents  cash — it  has 
been  as  low  as  37  cents. 

19th.  The  ships  Geo.  &  Martha — 
Chase — and  the  Pacific — Whitfield — 
sailed    for   the    Brazil    Banks.      Dined 


[44] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


at  W.  T.  Russell's,  the  warmest  day 
this  season.  The  thermometer  In  my 
entry  85°.  Friends  returned  from  the 
Yearly  meeting.  They  are  going  to 
apply  to  the  Legislature  to  get  In- 
corporated. 

"Oth  The  Rodman  from  New  York 
arrived  this  morning.  W.  R.  lloLch, 
Chas.  Morgan  &  Sister  came  passen- 
gers. Moses  received  some  cherries 
and  sent  them  up  to  our  house  and 
in  the  evening  had  a  party  to  partake 
of  them.  Took  a  ride  after  tea  to  get 
Cl.imoors — a   very   pleasant   day. 

21ft.  The  ships  Phoebe  Ann  and 
Good  Return  hauled  into  the  stream. 
A  pleasant  day. 

?2d  The  Rodman  left  this  morn- 
ing .or  New  York — a  fine  wind.  Corn's 
went  in  her.  The  ship  Phoebe  Ann — 
("apt.  Rawson — sailed  for  the  Brazil 
Batiks.  At  meeting  this  morning  Hull 
Barton  rose  and  quoted  tha1,  portion 
of  Scripture  where  Christ  told  the 
people  when  asked  what  they  should 
do  wiih  a  certain  woman,  and  he  tcld 
them  that  they  that  were  without  3ia 
to  cast  the  first  stone  at  her  &c — he 
then  sal  down,  but  soon  rose  again, 
but  before  he  had  said  many  words 
Coir>  Howland  asked  old  friend 
Rotch  if  it  was  not  best  to  stop  him 
as  he  was  not  a  member.  The  old 
man  would  not  pay  any  attention  to 
him,  and  Uncle  Casey  kept  silence — 
and  Hull  proceeded,  but  Asa  Smith 
could  not  rest  easy  to  hear  one  who 
was  not  a  member  say  any  thing  in 
meeting,  and  requested  that  "dis- 
honest man  to  take  his  seat  and  not 
disturb  the  meeting."  Frank  Taber 
also  upbraided  him,  but  he  paid  no 
attention  to  them  and  continued  on  in 
his  discourse,  and  spoke  to  us  in  a 
very  impressive  manner.  No  further 
opposition  was  made.  He  bade  us  an 
affectionate  farewell  and  left  the 
meeting    before    it    was    closed.    After 


he  left,  Ben'j  Rodman  spoke  in  a  very 
able  manner,  and  much  to  the  pur- 
pose— respecting  the  persecuting 
spirit  among  us,  and  ended  with  the 
words  of  Christ  on  the  cross:  "Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do." 

Dined  at  brother  William's — learnt 
that  Hull  had  an  appointed  meeting 
at  Rochester,  and  to  testify  our  appro- 
bation of  him  Catharine  &  myself 
with  William  and  Sylvia,  Rob't  & 
Lydia  Smith  and  Wm.  P.  and  sister 
Betsey  went  over  to  attend  his  meet- 
ing, and  were  well  pleased  with  his 
discourse.  After  meeting  we  called 
to  see  Micah  Ruggles  and  his  wife, 
and  then  returned  home.  Rob't  & 
Lydia  took  tea  with  us.  A  very  cool 
evening — had  a  fire  to  keep  us  com- 
fortable. 

23d.  A  considerable  excitement 
among  a  good  many  in  consequence 
of  the  unchristian  treatment  towards 
Hull  Barton  yesterday.  He  had  an 
appointed  meeting  this  evening  at  the 
Old  Congregational  meeting  house.  I 
attended  it  and  was  better  pleased 
with  him  than  at  any  time  before. 
The  meeting  was  well  attended.  Jos. 
Rotch  and  Ben'j  Rodman  sat  In  the 
pulpit  with  him.  Green  peas  in  the 
market  for  the  first  time  this  season. 

24th.  A  fine  Rain  last  night.  Wm. 
T.  Dined  with  us.  In  the  afternoon 
took  a  ride  round   the  river. 

25th.  Mr.  Warren  &  Smith  with 
the  girls  dined  with  us  today.  In  the 
afternoon  Moses  &  Susan,  Cath.  & 
myself  took  a  ride  to  Cummings'  to 
buy  goods  cheap.  Took  tea  and  spent 
the  evening  at  father's.  An  associa- 
tion of  ministers  from  different  parts 
of  the  States  belonging  to  the  or- 
thodox (Holmes')  church,  met  here 
today  to  discuss  the  state  of  religion, 
&c. 


[45] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


26th.  Monthly  meeting  day.  At 
the  close  of  the  first  meeting  B.  Rod- 
man informed  them  his  friend  Hull 
Barton  would  have  a  meeting  this  eve- 
ning at  the  North  Baptist  meeting 
house.  Some  of  the  old  friends  felt 
rather  sour  at  this.  They  disowned 
the  girls  after  some  opposition,  also 
Andrew  Hathaway  for  marrying  out 
of  the  Society. 

The  Eliza  Nicol  arrived  this  after- 
noon from  New  York.  A  son  and 
daughter  of  Caleb  Hathaway  of 
Phila.  came  passengers  in  her.  It 
rained  in  the  evening  and  I  did  not 
go  to  hear  Barton — understood  he 
had  a  pretty  full  meeting,  and 
preached  very  well  to  them. 

27th.  Dined  at  a  family  party  at 
father's.  S.  L.  Shober  of  Phila.  took 
tea  at  father's  with  us. 

28th.  Found  this  morning  that 
during  the  night  Henry  had  decamped 
with  all  his  baggage  thro'  the  win- 
dow in  his  room — have  not  been  able 
to  learn  any  tidings  of  him,  but  pre- 
sume he  has  gone  to  Hayti  in  the 
Sloop  William  which  sailed  during  the 
night. 

The  whole  talk  of  the  town  is  on 
the  failure  of  Will'm  &  Gideon  Allen 
— and  Hussey  &  Allen,  who  have 
stopped  payment  this  day.  Engaged 
most  of  the  day  in  reading  Quentin 
Derwood. 

29th.  Sunday.  Ships  Midas,  Spoon- 
er,  and  Good  Return — Terry — sailed 
for  the  Brazil  Banks.  The  Boston 
brig  Halcyon  with  2100  bbls.  whale 
oil  sailed  for  Rotterdam.  The  Ann 
left  this  evening  for  New  York. 
Uncle  Gid.  and  daughters  went  in  her 
on  a  tour  to  the  westward.  Capt. 
Smith  dined  with  me.  Hull  Barton 
left  town  this  afternoon  with  Mr. 
Warren  for  Plymouth  on  the  way  to 
Boston   &   Lynn — his  exit   will   relieve 


the  minds  of  many  concerned  friends. 
Sloop  Emily  sailed  for  Bilboa. 

30th.  Had  a  spell  of  the  sick  head- 
ache. The  brig  Glide  from  Boston 
arrived  this  morning  to  take  a  cargo 
of  oil   from   Fairhaven. 

July. 

1st.  By  the  arrival  at  Nantucket 
of  the  Constitution  &  Dauphin,  we 
receive  the  following  accounts  from 
the  whalemen: 

Nov.  25 — Frances — Swain 1600  bbls. 

Independence — Ham'd. .  .  .1800 

Dec.  Wm.    Rotch — Tobey 200 

Dec.     5      Stanton — Burtch 600 

"      23     Alliance — Coffin None 

Ja»i.   30     Sw*ift 600 

Feb.   13      Pindus 200 

2d.  The  Rodman  arrived  this 
forenoon.  Mrs.  Parry  and  her  two 
daughters  from  Phila.  came  in  her. 
Took  tea  at  Corn's  and  in  the  evening 
went  up  to  Nat's  to  see  Mrs.  Parry. 

3d.  The  ship  Millwood — Burgess — ■ 
sailed  for  the  Brazil  Banks.  Mr. 
Warren  returned  from  Plymouth — 
his  brother,  the  doctor,  came  with 
him.  Rec'd  a  letter  via  Nantucket 
from  Capt.  Glover  of  the  Barclay 
dated  at  sea  Lat.  33°  N.  Long.  1400 
W.,  Nov.  23,  182  .  He  says  he  is  going 
to  the  coast  of  Japan  once  more,  that 
he  has  800  barrels. 

4th.  A  pleasant  day — rather  cool. 
Nothing  done  in  the  village  towards 
celebrating  Independence  but  our 
Fairhaven  neighbours  had  a  public 
dinner.  This  eve'n  had  a  supper 
party  of  Chowder  &c — Mr.  Warren  & 
his  brother,  Wm.  T.,  Nat  &  Moses — 
had  a  pleasant  time. 

5th.  The  supper  I  ate  last  evening 
did  not  agree  with  me  very  well,  and 
I  did  not  leave  the  house  'till  after- 
noon. Thia  evening  the  Ship  Par- 
nasso — Capt.  Clark — with  1200  bbls. 
sperm  oil  arrived  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean  and  brings  the  unpleasant  in- 
telligence of  the  death  of  Capt.   Eber 


[46] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


Clark  of  our  Bark  Elizabeth,  who 
Bickened  and  died  before  they  got 
round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  This 
account  the  capt.  of  the  Parnasso 
learnt  from  the  ship  Courier  of  New- 
port, who  had  spoken  a  vessel  that 
was  in  company  with  the  Elizabeth  on 
the  coast  of  New  Holland,  but  at  what 
time  I  cannot  learn  but  hope  on  the 
arrival  of  the  Courier  to  have  fur- 
ther accounts  who  had  put  away  with 
1900  barrels  for  home.  The  Parnasso 
also  heard  from  the  Wm.  Rotch  with 
500  barrels  in  January. 

6th.  Very  heavy  showers  of  rain 
this  forenoon.  The  Commodore 
Rodgers — Capt.  Smith — sailed  for  the 
Brazil  Banks.  Devoted  the  day  to 
reading   Count  Las.   Casas'   Journal. 

7th.  Took  tea  at  Nath'ls,  then  took 
a  walk  thro'  the  north  part  of  the 
town.  It  is  so  much  altered  within 
a  few  years  that  I  hardly  knew  it 
to  be  part  of  our  town. 

8th.  Very  warm  and  lazy  weather 
— business  very  dull  . 

9th.  The  Ship  Victory — Capt. 
Adams — sailed  for  the  Brazil  Banks. 
The  Rodman  also  for  New  York. 
Thos.  Rodman  went  in  her  on  his 
way  to  Niagara.  The  Capt.  of  the 
Courier  got  here  this  afternoon  and 
says  he  never  heard  of  the  Elizabeth 
or  of  Capt.  Clark  and  that  the  in- 
formation we  heard  by  the  Parnasso 
is  entirely  incorrect  unless  he  got  the 
account  from  some  other  ship.  Took 
tea  at  father's — Nat.  Hathaway's  fam- 
ily there. 

10th.  The  Brig  Industry — Parker 
— from  the  coast  of  Guinea  with  380 
bbls.  sperm  oil  arrived  last  night.  The 
Ann  arrived  this  afternoon.  Nat's 
family  &  some  other  of  our  ac- 
quaintance took  tea  with  us,  among 
them  Wm.  Swain. 

11th.  Nothing  occurred  during  the 
day  to  note — sultry  weather. 


12th.  The  Brig  Nautilus  sailed  for 
New   York. 

13th.  The  Dragon — Bates — sailed 
for  the  Brazil  Banks.  Ben'n  Rodman 
took  the  high  seat  during  the  meet- 
ing and  preached  to  them  a  little. 
Mary  R.  Rotch  and  Ch's  W.  Flemming 
were  published  today.  The  Herald — 
Neal — sailed  for  the  Banks. 

14th.  Spent  most  of  the  day  at 
home  reading  Las  Casas's  Journal.  In 
the  evening  went  to  Jas.  Arnold's  gar- 
den to  eat  strawberries. 

15th.  A  fine  rain  all  day.  Warren 
dined  with  ua. 

16th.  The  Ann  sailed  for  New 
York  loaded  with  sperm  oil  in  the 
natural  state  belonging  to  Judd — bo't 
here  at  45  cts.  p.  gall.  cash.  In  the 
evening  went  down  to  father's  to  eat 
Ice  Cream.  Nothing  remarkable  oc- 
curred this  day  saving  old  Isaac 
Howland's  wife  was  put  to  bed  with  a 
daughter — great  event  for  the  old 
man. 

17th.  The  ship  Amazon — Adams — 
sailed  for  the  Brazil  Banks  a- whaling. 
At  noon  brother  Benjamin  with  his 
wife  and  blind  child,  arrived  from 
Newport — came  for  the  benefit  of 
their  healths.  Preparative  meeting 
day — nothing  done  with  Ben.  Rod- 
man. 

18th.  Brother  Ben,,  left  for  home 
this  morning.  Devoted  the  day  to 
bottling  port  wine,  rec'd  by  the 
Parthian.  I  filled  300  bottles  and 
stowed   them   in   the   wine   cellar. 

19th.  This  morning  a  party  con- 
sisting of  Jos.  &  Thos.  Rotch,  B. 
Rodman.  C.  Morgan,  Wm.  Swain,  M. 
Grinnell,  Chas.  Grinnell,  Nat.  Hath- 
away and  myself  went  in  the  sloop 
Experiment — Capt.  Taber — to  the 
Islands,  anchored  under  the  large 
Weepecket  island  and  commenced 
fishing.     A  party  put  off  in  the  Boat 


[49] 


LIFE 


I  N 


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BEDFORD 


to  divide  the  chance.  We  did  not  get 
many  fish,  though  more  than  we  need- 
ed. I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  catch 
more  than  any  one  else,  which  was 
but  twelve.  We  had  a  very  good 
chowder,  got  under  weigh  for  home 
about  two  o'clock — very  little  wind, 
and  that  ahead  as  well  as  the  tide  & 
we  did  not  get  to  the  wharf  till 
Eleven.  Part  of  the  party  left  the 
sloop  after  we  got  this  side  the  Light, 
in  the  whale  boat,  and  got  up  an  hour 
before  we  d;d.  We  had  a  very  pleas- 
ant time,  indeed  and  I  enjoyed  my- 
self very  much. 

20th.  Have  not  felt  well  all  day 
owing  to  yesterday's  dissipation.  The 
ship  Columbus — Capt.  Brock — sailed 
this  morning  for  the  Brazil  Banks 
a-whaling.  The  Rodman  arrived  this 
evening  from  New  York. 

21st.  Rec'd  accounts  by  the  ar- 
rival of  the  Carrier  into  N.  London 
from  the  Pacific  Ocean  that  she  spoke 
Feb'y  22d  with  1050  barrels  the 
Minerva,  so  that  we  may  daily  expect 
her. 

22d.  The  Experiment — Capt  Taber 
— sailed  this  morn'g  for  New  York. 
Thos.  Hathaway  went  on  in  her.  Took 
my  gig  to  Hall's  to  have  repaired. 

23d.  Got  my  hay  into  the  Barn  of 
W.  Rotch,  1%  tons  &  W.  T.  Russell 
2  tons. 

24th.  Monthly  meeting  day — a 
good  deal  of  sparring.  Geo.  Hussey, 
wife  and  Eliza  Bowne  got  in  town 
from  New  York  via  steamboat. 

25th.  The  Ann  arrived  this 
morn'g  twenty-five  hours  from  N. 
York.  Brother  Corn's  cousin  Fanny 
Russell  and  her  mother  came  in  her. 
Corn's  has  come  home  very  much 
pleased  with  the  interior  of  the  State 
of  New  York  and  talks  strongly  of 
purchasing  a  farm  and  settling  on  it. 
Began  to   rain   in   the  afternoon   and 


continued  to  all  night  pretty  heavily. 
We  had  an  invitation  to  a  party  at 
James  Arnold's — got  all  ready  expect- 
ing Corn's  to  send  his  gig  for  us,  but 
he  did  not  and  we  were  obliged  to 
stay  at  home.  Capt.  Smith  came  in  in 
the  evening  and  we  had  a  little  bit 
of  a  supper  to  console  for  the  loss 
of  the  party. 

26.  The  Brig  Resolution — Capt. 
Dunbar — sailed  for  Bremen  with  a 
cargo  of  oil,  and  the  Ship  Maria 
Theresa — Hillman — sailed  for  the 
Banks  a-whaling  My  niece  Almy 
Barker  came  this  afternoon  from 
Newport  to  pay  us  a  visit. 

27th,  Sunday.  Benj'n  Rodman 
gave  us  a  sermon  this  morning.  Moses 
&  Susan  dined  with  us.  The  Eliza 
Nicol  arrived  this  afternoon  from  N. 
York.  John  Brewer  came  in  her  from 
Phila. 

28th.  Took  tea  at  Corn's  and  had 
a  cherry  and  cucumber  party. 

29th.  Howard  came  to  live  with  us 
this  day  at  ten  dollars  p.  month.  Took 
a  ride  with  Amy  round  the  river — 
went  to  father's  to  tea. 

30th.  This  evening  Cousin  Fanny, 
Sally  E.  &  Some  others  spent  the 
evening  with  us — we  had  a  small  sup- 
per. 

31st.  Put  some  Ising  glass  to  a 
cask  of  Lisbon  wine  to  settle  it.  John 
R.  Mitchell  came  in  town  from  Ply- 
mouth very  much  pleased  to  see  my 
old  companion — took  tea  at  W.  T. 
Russell's  with  cousin  Fanny  &  some 
others. 

August 

1st.  This  afternoon  Warren  &  my- 
self took  a  ride  over  to  Tucker's  to 
join  J.  R.  Mitchell  and  some  others 
at  nine  pins.  In  the  eve'g  we  had 
cousin  Fanny,  her  mother  and  a  few 
others  to  tea. 

2d.     John    Thornton   in    town.       J. 


[50] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


Mitchell  left  for  Nantucket.  The  Ex- 
periment arrived  from  New  York.  B. 
Rodman  had  an  examination  before 
the  overseers  at  the  committee  room. 
He  proved  every  thing  he  had  assert- 
ed and  they  have  concluded  to  let 
the  matter  rest.  Last  evening  Chas. 
W.  Flemming  and  Mary  R.  Rotch 
were  married.  J.  Thornton  took  tea 
with  us.  Heard  that  they  thrust  Hull 
Barton  out  of  the  meeting  house  at 
Nantucket  and  would  not  suffer  him 
to  preach.  Uncle  Elkanah  &  Rob't 
Smith  got  home. 

3d.  Sunday — very  rainy  all  the 
forenoon.  Jos.  Rotch  went  on  to 
Nantucket  and  will  assist  H.  Barton. 
John  Thornton  also  went  on.  Will'm 
T.  dined  with  us.  The  ship  Europa 
— E.  Dunbar — and  the  Brig.  Frank- 
lin— J.  Delano — both  from  Gothen- 
burg loaded  with  Iron  arrived  this 
afternoon.  Went  up  to  uncle  Abra- 
ham's to  see  L.  Smith.  When  we  re- 
turned found  Warren  had  been  in  and 
carried  off  the  remains  of  our  dinner. 
We  immediately  went  down  to  uncle 
Humphrey's  and  had  a  merry  time. 
The  Ann  sailed  for  New  York  this 
afternoon. 

4th.  Took  a  ride  with  Amy  to 
Padanaram.  In  the  evening  a  severe 
thunderstorm. 

5th.  Reshingled  the  gutter  on  the 
roof  of  the  house  and  put  up  a  vane 
on  Geo.  Howland's  barn.  After  tea 
took  a  ride  with  Amy  to  the  fort — 
very  pleasant. 

6th.  The  ship  Charles — Coffin — 
arrived  last  night  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean  full  of  sperm  oil.  An  officer  in 
the  Patriot  service  came  passenger  in 
her.  Bill  Delano  also  came  home  in 
her.  Joseph  Rotch  returned  from 
Nantucket.  Hull  Barton  came  with 
him. 

7th.     Brig  Industry — Parker — sailed 


on  a  whaling  voyage  to  the  Cape  de 
Verds.  At  meeting  this  morning  Mr. 
Clough  the  Baptist  minister  preached 
to  them  some  time.  After  him  Hull 
Barton  began  to  speak.  Caleb  Greene 
requested  him  to  desist,  but  Hull  said 
what  he  had  to  before  he  sat  down. 
Ben  Rodman,  Mary  Rotch  and  Phebe 
Johnson  had  something  to  say,  bo 
that  they  had  quite  a  New  Light  time. 
In  the  afternoon  Caleb  Greene  and 
Francis  Taber  had  an  interview  with 
Clough  to  take  him  to  do  for  speak- 
ing. John  W.  Davis,  wife  and  mother 
arrived. 

8th.  Had  a  party  to  dine  consist- 
ing of  Nat's  family,  cousin  Fanny  and 
some  others. 

9th.  The  ship  Parnasso — Covil — 
sailed  this  morning  for  the  Banks  a 
whaling.  Went  over  to  Russell's  Mills 
with  a  party  of  gentlemen  to  roll  nine 
pins.  John  Davis  with  us.  Father 
bought  the  old  meeting  house  at  auc- 
tion for  $275  and  has  offered  the  use 
to  Hull  Barton  to  hold  meetings  in. 
The  Ann  got  in  this  evening.  Hen'y 
Grinnell  &  wife,  Miss  Whitridge  and 
Thos.  Hathaway  came  passengers. 

In  the  evening  went  to  the  Method- 
ist Chapel  to  hear  Hull  Barton. 

10th.  Sunday — attended  meeting 
all  day.  Hull  Barton  preached  both 
in  the  morning  and  afternoon — no 
opposition  was  made  to  him.  Dined 
at  Corn's.  Was  at  father's  between 
meetings  when  I  met  Hull  and  Ben 
Rodman.  In  the  evening  at  Wm.  T. 
Russell's  in  company  with  H'y  Grin- 
nell and  wife. 

11th.  Subscribed  for  a  share  in  the 
old  meeting  house,  father  having 
given  up  his  right  to  it.  Rainy  day. 
Took  tea  at  father's  with  H.  Grinnell 
and   lady,   Mrs.   Davis  &  others. 

12th.  Employed  in  fitting  a  stone 
or  en  drain  from  the  house. 


[51  [ 


LIFE 


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BEDFORD 


13th.  Hull  Barton  left  this  morn- 
ing for  New  York  in  the  Experiment. 
A  pamphlet  came  out  this  morn'g 
against  Hull,  supposed  to  have  been 
written  by  Job  Otis.  Had  a  party  to 
dine  with  us  for  Henry  Grinnell  & 
wife  and  fourteen  others  in  the  eve- 
ning— had  some  others  to  tea  and 
then  a  little  bit  of  a  dance. 

14th.  Took  tea  with  a  party  at 
brother  Wm.  T. — had  a  pleasant  eve- 
ning. 

15th.  Dined  at  Cornelius' — most 
sick  all  day  with  a  cold  and  head 
ache.  Wm.  R.  left  for  Princeton  to 
wait  on  his  wife  home. 

16th.  Unpleasant  weather  with 
some  rain.  Invited  to  Chas.  Swain's 
to  eat  Lobster  at  11  o'clock  with 
H'y  Grinnell  and  some  others.  In  the 
evening  at  a  ball  at  Thos.  Rotch's. 
Mrs,.  Rotch  played  on  the  Piano  and 
Mr.  Flemming  on  the  flute — enjoyed 
myself  very  much — got  home  about 
twelve  o'clock. 

17th.     Sunday.     Henry  Grinnell, 

Wm.  Warren  and  Wm.  T.  dined  with 
me  today. 

18th.  This  morning  a  party  con- 
sisting of  Henry  &  Sarah,  Corn's  & 
Betsey  &  Moses  Grinnell,  Wm.  T.  & 
Sylvia.  Cousins  Fanny  &  Sally  Rus- 
sell, Susan  Davis,  Wm.  C.  &  Eliza  and 
Hannah  Nye,  Lydia  Smith,  Mary  and 
Susan  Russell,  John  Smith,  Chas.  H. 
Warren,  Catharine  &  myself,  took  a 
ride  to  Horse  Neck  Beach  to  spend 
the  day.  We  had  a  fine  ride  on  the 
Beach,  where  we  found  some  men  a 
seining.  We  bought  some  Bass  and 
made  a  chowder,  and  dined  on  the 
Rocks  from  the  provisions  we  car- 
ried with  us,  and  the  chowder.  We 
returned  to  Tucker's  to  tea  and  played 
nine  pins — stayed  there  till  sunset. 
Found  the  tire  on  one  of  my  chair 
wheels  broken — tied   it  up   so   that   I 


got  home  without  any  further  injury 
to  the  wheel.  Catharine  rode  home 
in  one  of  the  carriages  and  I  took 
Henry  Grinnell  with  me.  Just  after 
they  entered  the  new  road,  the  car- 
riage broke  down  that  Cath.  was  in, 
but  they  met  with  no  accident  and 
all  got  home  safe  and  pretty  well 
tired.  Cousin  Fanny,  Mary  &  Susan, 
J.  Smith,  Warren  and  Corn's  stop'd 
and  spent  the  evening  with  us,  Capt. 
Smith  was  in  his  best  spirits,  and  we 
had  a  merry  evening.  The  day  was 
very  pleasant  and  we  all  enjoyed  our- 
selves very  much. 

19th.  Forenoon  rainy.  Matthew 
Barker  came  off  from  Nantucket  for 
the  purpose  of  selecting  him  a  place 
to  erect  a  salt  works. 

20th.  Matthew  &  myself  took  a 
ride  to  view  the  salt  works  on  the 
Acushnet,  at  Padanaram.  and  at  the 
Cove,  which  occupied  the  whole  of 
the  day.  Wm.  T.  Russell  went  to 
Newport  today.  John  Coggeshall's 
daughter   Emily   died. 

21st.  This  morning  at  seven 
o'clock  Corn's,  Sam'l  Leonard,  Mat- 
thew and  myself  went  over  to  West- 
port  thro'  Russells  Mills  and  over 
Hicks  Bridge,  then  up  the  River  about 
a  mile  to  a,  small  farm  of  Seth  Rus- 
sells, but  found  the  water  too  fresh 
for  salt  works — returned  to  Tucker's 
to  dine.  After  dinner  we  went  down 
to  his  farm,  where  we  staid  some 
time.  The  situation  did  not  suit  Mat- 
thew- We  got  home  about  sunset  and 
I  found  our  ship  Minerva — Capt. 
Swain — had  arrived  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean  full  of  sperm  oil.  She  brought 
Ten  thousand  dollars  in  Specie  for 
some  persons  in  Boston.  Wm.  R.  and 
his  wife  arrived  from  Princeton.  Wm. 
T.  returned  from  Newport. 

2 2d.  M.  Barker  left  for  Newport. 
Engaged  in  discharging  the  ship.  The 


[52] 


CORNELIUS  GRINNELL   (1) 
JAMES  ARNOLD  (2) 

From  a  cartoon  owned  by  the  Old 
Dartmouth  Historical  Society.  Prob- 
ably more  correct  as  to  costume,  than 
feature. 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


captains  of  two  Nantucket  ships  ar- 
rived here  on  their  way  home,  having 
cast  away  their  ships  on  some  un- 
known reefs  on  the  coast  of  Japan. 
The  ships  were  the  Lion  and  the  Two 
Brothers.  The  captains  came  passen- 
gers in  a  ship  arrived  in  Boston  yes- 
terday. 

23d.  Finished  discharging  the  Mi- 
nervo — very  pleasant  weather. 

24th.  Sunday.  This  morning  Cath- 
arine, the  children  &  myself  took  a 
ride  to  Sconticut  point — very  good 
road  and  a  pleasant  ride.  Moses,  Su- 
san &  Mr.  Warren  dined  with  us 
Philip  Dunham  gave  a  long  New  Light 
sermon.  In  the  afternoon  Corn's  & 
Mary,  Moses  &  Sue  and  ourselves  took 
a  ride  round  the  river.  In  the  eve- 
ning cousin  Fanny  &  Sally,  Wm.  & 
Sylvia  with  the  girls  stopped  in  and 
we  had  a  little  supper. 

25th.  Jeremiah  Hubbard,  a  friends 
minister,  here — also  Mr.  "Webster  and 
John  Thornton. 

26th.  Got  the  account  of  the  Mi- 
nerva's cargo— she  turned  out  1123 
bbls.  about  1-3  Head.  In  the  after- 
noon friend  Hubbard  had  an  appoint- 
ed meeting  and  gave  us  a  long  and 
windy  sermon.  I  do  not  form  a  very 
high  opinion  of  his  spiritual  preach- 
ing. Henry  &  Sarah  Grinnell  returned 
from  Boston. 

27th. 

28th.  Very  pleasant  weather.  At  a 
large  party  at  uncle  Elkanah's.  The 
ship  Charles — Capt.  Joy — sailed  for 
the  Banks  a  whaling,  also  the  brig 
Protection  to  the  Cape  de  Verds  and 
the  Brig  Elizabeth, — Blackmer — if  or 
the  Cape  de  Verds  a  trading  voyage. 
Amy  left  us  to  day  for  Nantucket  with 
John  &  Lydia  Thornton.  Henry,  Sarah, 
cousin  Fanny,  the  girls  &  Moses  dined 
with  us.     Monthly  meeting  day.  Corn's 


handed  the  clerk  his  resignation  to  his 
right  of  membership,  and  made  a  few 
observations  &  left  the  meeting.  At 
brother  William  T.,  at  a  corn  pudding 
party. 

29th.  This  morning  Dr.  Stebbins 
(who  is  Innoculating  the  children  in 
town  who  have  not  been)  Innoculated 
William  &  Edward.  The  Rodman  left 
this  afternoon  for  Now  York.  Took 
tea  at  James  Arnold's. 

30th.  The  Ann  arrived  about  noon. 
Aunt  Sally  and  cousin  J.  L.  Russell 
came  in  her.  L'd  Stockton  &  lady 
arrived  this  evening  to  Wm.  R's,  also 
I.  W.  Davis  and  his  cousin  Dr.  Nilea. 

3 1st.  Dined  at  father's — had  a  pot 
pie  party  at  our  house  in  the  evening. 
The  Brig  Franklin — Jos.  Delano — 
sailed  for  the  north  of  Europe  with 
a  cargo  of  whale  oil  &  100  bbls.  sperm 
strained  oil  &  100  boxes  sperm'i  Can- 
dles. 

September. 

1st.  Took  tea  at  Wm.  Nye's  with  a 
larg»  party. 

2d.  Dined  at  Corn's  with  a  party 
for  I.  W.  Davis. 

3d.  Left  this  morning  with  a  party 
for  Gayhead.  After  we  got  out  in  the 
Bay  the  wind  was  so  far  a  head  we 
had  to  give  up  the  Idea  of  going  to 
Gayhead,  and  ran  down  to  Kettle 
Cove,  and  made  a  chowder,  then  went 
a  shore  and  walk'd  across  the  Island 
to  Tarpaulin  Cove,  and  staid  some 
time  there,  then  returned  home.  We 
were  an  hour  &  twenty  minutes  from 
Kettle  cove  to  the  wharf.  We  had  the 
sloop  Ann.  The  party  consisted  of 
J.  W.  Davis,  Henry  &  Moses  Grinnell, 
W.  C.  Nye,  E.  Tallman,  Rich'd  Wil- 
liams, Capt.  Randall  &  myself — got 
home  about  8  o'clock — found  Cath. 
gone  to  a  party  at  Jos.  Rotch's. 

4  th.  Dined  at  father's  with  a 
party  and  In  the  evening  took  tea  at 


[55] 


LIFE 


I  N 


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BEDFORD 


aunt  Perry's.  Rec'd  a  letter  from  H. 
I.  Merk  &  Co.  Hamburgh,  mentioning 
the  arrival  of  the  Sophia  in  32  days 
from  N.  York. 

5th.  Henry  and  Sarah  Grinnell  left 
this  morning  for  New  York  in  the 
Experiment. 

6th.  The  ship  Abigail — Covill — ar- 
rived from  the  Pacific  Ocean  with  2200 
barrels  Sperm  oil.  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Davis, 
Cousin  Fanny,  the  girls,  Warren  and 
Moses  dined  with  us  today. 

7th.  Rainy  day.  Dined  at  Wm.  T. 
with  a  gentlemen  party.  J.  W.  Davis, 
W.  C.  Nye,  Warren  &  R.  Smith.  Spent 
the  evening  at  father's. 

8th.  John  Whitridge  in  town  from 
Baltimore.  J.  Coggeshall,  Jr.  sold  his 
part  of  the  Minerva's  cargo  to  Sam'l 
Judd  for  48  cents  p.  gallon.  John 
Davis  returned  home. 

9th.  The  Rodman  arrived  from 
New  York.  Thos.  Hazard,  Jr.  here 
from  New  York.  Cousin  Fanny  & 
Sally  with  Corn's  &  Mary  at  our  house 
in  the  eve'g. 

10th.  Nurse  Mary  left  this  morn- 
ing for  a  Newport  on  a  visit.  Cousin 
Jos.   Russell   dined   with   me. 

11th.  Employed  Scipio  in  setting 
out  strawberry  vines  &  raspberry 
bushes  in  the  north  lot.  Phebe  John- 
son and  Eliza  Rotch  took  the  high 
seat  at  meeting  this  morning. 

12th.  Cousin  Panny  and  her 
mother  left  this  forenoon  in  the  Rod- 
man for  New  York,  with  a  fine  wind 

13th.  The  Brig  Minerva — Capt. 
Tucker — arrived  this  morning  from 
Marseilles  with  a  cargo  of  Red  wines. 

14th.  Sunday.  This  morning  at 
meeting  Phebe  Johnson  and  Eliza 
Rotch  again  took  the  high  seat.  Pret- 
ty soon  Debby  Otis  made  some  ob- 
servations, alluding  to  them.  Phebe 
followed  her  and  spoke  very  well. 
Ben.   Rodman  joined  with  Phebe  and 


Susan  Howland  backed  Debby.  The 
Brig  Clitus — Capt.  Almy — with  a  car- 
go of  iron,  arrived  this  morning  from 
Stockholm. 

15th.  The  Eliza  Nicol  sailed  for 
Phila.  with  a  cargo  of  sperm  oil. 

16th.  Cousin  Joe  Russell  dined 
with  me.  The  Experiment  arrived 
from  N.  Y.  The  Brig  Osprey — Capt. 
Nye — from  Amsterdam.  In  the  eve- 
ning Mr.  Warren,  Thos.  Hedge  and 
Capt  Smith  at  our  house — gave  them 
a  cut  of  cold  beef. 

17th.  The  Ann  sailed  this  morn- 
ing for  N.  York.  Anna  Parry  ana 
her  two  daughters  left  in  her.  Moses 
has  concluded  to  go  Supercargo  of 
the  brig  Minerva  to  South  America 
and    up    the    Mediterranean    Sh. 

18th.  Busily  employed  during  the 
day  in  posting  James  Arnold's  books. 
Wm.  &  Lydia  Swain  spent  the  eve- 
ning with  us. 

19th.  Warren  dined  with  me.  The 
Rodman  arrived  this  afternoon  21 
hours  from  N.  York. 

20th.  In  the  evening  at  father's 
making  memorandums  for  articles  for 
Moses  to  get  for  the  Girls  on  his  voy- 
age. 

21st.  This  morning  a  fine  wind  for 
the  Brig,  but  some  of  the  sailors  be- 
ing out  of  the  way,  the  Brig  did  not 
leave  till  2  o'clock.  Corn's  went  out 
in  the  vessel  and  left  them  at  4 
o'clock  off  the  Sow  &  Pigs  with  a 
fine  breeze.  It  was  pretty  hard  for 
Moses  to  leave  home  for  so  long  a 
time,  but  he  mastered  his  feelings 
pretty  well,  considering  all  circum- 
stances. For  the  first  time  in  my 
life  a  tear  moistened  my  eye  on  part- 
ing with  a  friend.  For  nearly  five 
years  he  had  been  my  companion  in 
the  counting  room  and  endeared  him- 
self to  me  so  much  that  I  can  truly 
say  I  felt  for  him  all  a  brother's  love. 


[56] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


He  goes  from  here  to  Pernambuco, 
from  thence  up  the  Mediterranean  to 
Trieste  and  will  be  absent  from  eight 
to  ten  months.  John  Whittridge  and 
Cousin  Jos.  Russell  dined  with  me. 
At  meeting  this  morning  Benj'n  Rod- 
man and  Eliza  Rotch  took  the  head 
of  the  Galleries  (or  high  seat).  The 
latter  made  some  observations  on  her 
having   that    duty    to    perform. 

22d.  Every  thing  in  the  counting 
room  put  me  in  mind  of  Moses,  the 
loss  of  whose  good  company  I  al- 
ready begin  to  feel.  In  the  evening 
Mary  &  Susan,  Corn's  &  Betsey  with 
Warren  spent  the  evening  with  us. 
We  had  a  fire  for  the  first  time  this 
season,    which   was   very   comfortable. 

23d.  Weather  unpleasant  and 
cold.      Warren   dined   with   us. 

24th.  A  cold  N.  E.  storm.  The 
Experiment  sailed  this  morning  with 
a  full  cargo  of  oil  &  candles. 

25th.  This  evening  the  girls  with 
Warren  and  Smith  spent  the  evening 
with  us — had  a  pleasant  evening,  but 
would  have  been  much  more  so  could 
we  have  had  our  good  Moses'  com- 
pany. Heard  of  the  death  of  Thomas 
Rotch  of  Kendal,  Ohio.  Monthly 
meeting  day.  The  old  lights  tried 
hard  to  get  Corn's  out  of  meeting 
without  accepting  his  resignation,  but 
were  opposed  by  W.  Rotch,  Jr.,  Sam'l 
Rodman  &  others,  and  they  put  it 
off   for   another    month. 

26th.  The  Rodman  sailed  this 
morn'g.  Mrs.  Davis  dined  with  us, 
with  Mrs.  Smith,  Mary  &  Warren.  In 
the  evening  had  an  invitation  from 
Lem.  Williams  to  attend  their  meet- 
ing to  hear  a  lecture  from  Mr.  Dew- 
ey, which  we  attended. 

27th.  The  Sophia  went  into  Tar- 
paulin Cove  this  forenoon  from  St. 
Ubes  with  a  cargo  of  salt.  We  sent. 
P.  Mosher  to  her  to  pilot  her  to  New 


York.  The  boat  that  took  him  to  her 
had    not   returned   at   sunset. 

28th.  Sunday.  This  morning  at 
meeting  had  divers  much  preaching 
from  seven  different  persons,  among 
the  number  ELiza  Rotch  and  Phebe 
Johnson,  who  both  took  the  high  seat 
when    they    came    into    meeting. 

Warren  dined  with  us.  After  din- 
ner Catharine,  the  children  and  my- 
self took  a  ride  to  the  head  of  the 
river. 

The  Ann  arrived  last  night.  Thos. 
Swain  and  Abm.  Grinnell  came  pas- 
sengers. Rec'd  a  letter  from  Capt. 
Crocker  &  a  new  suit  of  clothes  which 
he  purchased  for  me  in  Liverpool. 
Mosher's  boat  had  not  returned  from 
the  cove  this  evening. 

The  Sophia  was  not  in  the  Cove 
this    morn'g. 

29th.  The  Brig  Beneset — Capt. 
Gardner — arrived  from  St.  Ubes.  R. 
R.  Plummer  got  here  at  noon.  H© 
left  the  ship  at  the  cove.  He  is  very 
well.  They  had  33  days  passage  from 
St.  Ubes  and  have  on  board  about 
7000  bushels  of  salt.  In  the  evening 
quite  rainy.  Warren  'Neal,  'Nat,  Capt. 
Smith  &  Dr.  Whitridge  spent  the  eve- 
ning at  our  house. 

30th.  Williams'  birthday  —  two 
years  old.  Mary  Harris  returned 
from  Newport.  This  morning  I  start- 
ed with  Joseph  Rotch  in  my  gig  to 
take  him  on  to  Newport  on  his  way 
to  New  York  with  his  family.  We 
had  not  got  but  ten  miles  from  to 
town  before  the  tire  of  one  of  my 
wheels  came  entirely  off  and  we  were 
obliged  to  stop  and  get  the  gig  out 
of  the  road,  and  I  walked  back  half 
a  mile  to  a  Blacksmith's  shop  who 
let  us  have  an  old  waggon,  and  prom- 
ised to  put  the  tire  on  so  that  I 
might  have  the  gig  on  my  return.  We 
had  not  proceeded  far  before  we  lost 


[57] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


one  of  linch  pins,  and  we  came  very 
near  coming  to  the  ground,  but  dis- 
covered it  just  in  time.  Got  to  the 
Bridge  at  2  o'clock  where  we  dined, 
and  were  in  hopes  to  have  obtained 
a  better  carriage  to  convey  us  to  New 
port,  but  were  not  able  to  get  one, 
so  we  proceeded  on  in  the  crazy  old 
vehicle — got  to  town  without  sustain- 
ing any  other  damage  except  break- 
ing down  the  seat.  Joseph  and  fam- 
ily went  to  Mrs.  Dupce's  and  I  to 
brother  James'  who  was  at  home, 
expecting  to  leave  in  a  few  days  for 
New   Orleans. 

October. 

1st.  Left  Newport  this  morning  al 
nine  o'clock.  The  steamboat  left  for 
New  York  at  sunrise.  J.  Rotch  came 
near  being  left,  as  it  was  not  known 
that  she  had  altered  her  hour  of  start- 
ing. Got  along  quite  uncomfortably 
in  the  old  wagon.  Being  alone  I  got 
a  sound  jolting  and  was  well  pleased 
to  get  into  the  gig  again.  Got  home 
at  2  o'clock.  The  Experiment  arrived 
this  afternoon.  Rec'd  a  letter  from 
Henry.  Took  tea  at  father's;  Nat  and 
Anna,  Mrs.  Tom  Rotch  and  some  oth- 
ers there  a-quilting. 

2d.  Fine  pleasant  weather — the 
Indian  summer.  Seaver  and  Hedge 
here  from  Plymouth. 

3d.  Mary  and  Susan  dined  with  us. 
Nothing  remarkable  occurred  this 
day. 

4th.  Wrote  Fish  &  Grinnell  to  en- 
deavor to  procure  some  business  for 
the  Minerva.  Sent  Capt.  Crocker  a 
box  of  sperm  candles  as  a  present.  A. 
meeting  this  evening  of  the  merchants 
for  the  purpose  of  framing  a  petition 
to  Congress  to  have  a  tax  laid  on  Tal- 
low. 

5th. — Sunday.  At  meeting  this 
morning  as  Eliza  Rotch  was  passing 
up  the  aisle  to  take  her  seat  on  the 


high  seat,  Debby  Otis  moved  her  seat 
to  block  up  the  passage.  Eliza 
stopped  and  stood  in  the  aisle  for  10 
or  15  minutes,  then  took  another  seat. 
She  did  not  have  anything  to  say  dur- 
ing the  meeting.  Phebe  Johnson  camo 
in  after  Eliza  took  the  high  seat  by 
passing  Debby.  After  sitting  some 
time  she  arose  and  denounced  a  woe 
upon  those  who  interposed  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  and  cut  poor  Debby  up 
very  handsomely.  M.  R.  Fleming  had 
a  little  to  say,  but  spoke  so  low  I  did 
not  hear  her,  but  understood  she 
commenced  with  "Touch  not  the 
Lord's  annointed."  Debby  and  Susan 
both  had  a  deal  to  say.  In  the  after- 
noon Phebe  and  Debby  had  a  good 
deal   of  spatting. 

Cornelius  and  Susan,  Nat.  and  An- 
na, started  this  afternoon  for  Wor- 
cester to  attend  the  Cattle  Show  at 
that  place,  and  return  by  the  way  of 
Boston  to  be  at  the  Cattle  Show  at 
Brighton.  Mary,  Catherine  and  my- 
self spent  the  evening  at  Thos. 
Rotch's.  Mr.  Warren,  Wm.  R.  and 
his  wife  were  there.  Minister  Dewey 
was  the  general  subject  of  conversa- 
tion. They  all  have  an  exalted  opin- 
ion of  his  talents  and  the  Society  is 
endeavoring  to  get  him  established 
over  their  Church.  Rained  very  hard 
in  the  evening. 

6th.  The  Brig  Ospray,  Capt.  Nye, 
and  the  Ann,  Capt.  Wood,  sailed  for 
New  York  with  a  fine  wind.  The 
Rodman  arrived  from  New  Yorlq 
Capt.  Cathcart   came  in   her. 

7th.  Had  Capt.  Cathcart,  R.  C. 
Plummer  and  Warren  to  dine  with 
me.  Thos.  Rotch's  wife  left  this 
morning  for  Philadelphia  via  New- 
port 

8th.  Took  tea  at  Father's  and 
spent  the  evening  at  Wm.  R's.  Miss 
Hedge  in  town  from  Plymouth. 


[58] 


From  a  portrait  owned  by  Lawrence  Grinnell. 
CORNELIUS  GRINNELL,  JR. 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


9th.  The  Brig  Wm.  Thatcher  ar- 
rived this  morning  from  Bremen  via 
Turk's  Island,  where  she  intended  to 
have  stopped  and  taken  in  a  cargo  oi 
•salt,  but  having  a  head  wind  for  three 
days  Capt.  Howland  concluded  to 
come  home  and  take  a  fresh  start. 

10th.     Great   commotion     in     town 
occasioned  by  a  number  of  suspicious 
looking  sailors     about.      In  the  after- 
noon they  were  taken  up,  being  seven 
in    all.     Their    captain    was    a   young 
fellow   about   three    and    twenty,    had 
been  pretty  well  cut  all  day.     He  said 
he  was  the  prize  master  put  on  board 
a    Spanish    Brig    captured    by    a    Co- 
lumbian     privateer    (in     which     ser- 
vice   he    belonged),      that    they    were 
bound  to  Laguira    that  off  Porto  Rico 
they   fell    in    with   a   vessel   bound    to 
Saco  (Maine)  and  his  sails  being  very 
bad  he  made  a  bargain  with  this  Saco 
vessel   to   take  in   his   cargo  and  men 
and   desert   his  prize,   and  when   they 
got  into  the  Vineyard  Sound,  he  con- 
cluded that  he  could  get  to  New  York 
easier   than   by  going  to   Saco.     They 
there   left   the   vessel   and    came   over 
here  in  a  boat.     They  all  told  the  same 
story,    but   it   was  the   opinion   of   the 
mate,   as  well   as  most  everyone   else, 
that    the    prize    master    had    sold    his 
cargo   to   the   Saco   vessel   and   meant 
to    keep    the    proceeds    himself.      He 
appeared    to    have    plenty    of    money. 
He  said  his  name  was  Mosher,  son  of 
the  President  of  one  of  the  Baltimore 
Banks.      C.   H.    Warren   was   his   law- 
yer, to  whom  ha  gave  a  Doubloon.  In 
the  evening  he  left  town  for  Newport 
to  take  the  steamboat  for  New  York. 
The  collector  has  written  to  Saco  to 
have  the  vessel  stopped. 

11th.  Very  busy  all  day  attending 
to  Thos.  Rotch's  business.  In  the  aft- 
ernoon there  was  a  town  meeting  (ad- 
journed from  the  4th  inst.)  respecting 
the  petition  to  Congress,  and  a  com- 


mittee was  appointed  to  procure  sub- 
scribers. 

12th. — Sunday.  The  Experiment 
and  the  Brig  Annawan  sailed  for  New 
York,  Aunt  Bethia  in  the  former  and 
Edward  Russell  in  the  latter.  The 
Brig  Hope  arrived  83  days  from 
Gothenburg  with  a  cargo  of  Iron.  At 
meeting  Eliza  Rotch  and  Phebe  John- 
son on  the  High  seat.  The  latter  haa 
considerable  to  say.  The  Congrega- 
tionalists  have  concluded  to  establish 
Mr.  Dewey  over  their  church  ami 
have  the  house  enlarged.  Warren 
left  town  for  the  state  of  Maine.  Bet- 
sey and   Mary   dined   with   us. 

13th.  The  Ann  arrived  from  New 
York;  John  R.  Mitchell  came  in  her. 
In  the  evening  we  had  quite  a  tempest. 
Most  sick  all  day. 

14th.     My  birthday — twenty-six 

years  old.  Took  tea  at  Father's.  Cor- 
nelius and  Susan  returned  this  after- 
noon from  Boston,  much  pleased  with 
the  Cattle  Show  at  Worcester.  Some 
jarring  among  a  part  of  the  company, 
that  rendered  their  jaunt  not  so  pleas- 
ant as  it  might  have  been. 

15th.  Dined  at  Cornelius  with 
Mary  and  Susan,  William  and  Sylvia 
and  Li.  Smith.  We  had  a  grand  dinner 
of  stall  fed  wild  pigeons  roasted  and 
a  partridge  pie.  Had  a  real  pleasant 
time. 

16th.  Rainy  afternoon.  Put  up  a 
barrel  of  apples  to  send  Henry  Grin- 
nell.  Preparative  meeting  day.  The 
old  lights  succeeded  in  getting  in 
W.  C.  Taber  as  clerk,  though  not 
without  some  opposition.  Cornelius 
quite  sick  with  the  cholic. 

17th.  Heard  from  the  Experiment 
in  New  London.  She  arrived  there 
the  evening  of  the  13th.  Just  as  she 
let  go  her  anchor  she  was  struck  with 
lightning.  Shivered  her  topmasts  and 
mast.     Cut  away  her  lanyards  on  one 


[61] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


side  and  passed  off  from  the  vessel 
by  the  chain  cable  which  was  made 
fast  to  the  mast.  All  the  persons  on 
deck  were  knocked  down  but  no  one 
was  injured. 

18th.  Mrs.  George  Brayton  was  de- 
livered of  two  fine  girls  at  noon  this 
day.  Capt.  Smith  returned  from  Bos- 
ton and  brought  me  Butler's  Hudi- 
brass.  Mary,  Susan  and  Lydia  Smith 
took  tea  with  us. 

19th.  Sunday.  Eliza  Rotch  and 
Phebe  Johnson  atill  continue  their 
station  on  the  High  seat.  The  latter 
had  considerable  to  say.  Mr.  Smith 
and  sister  Susan  dined  with  us.  We 
drank  our  good  Moses'  health  in  a 
Bumper.  He  has  been  gone  four 
weeks  this  day.  Took  tea  and  spent 
the  evening  at  Cornelius'.  Jos.  Rotch 
returned  from  New  York,  Miss  Stock- 
ton with  him.  Wm.  T.  received  a 
letter  from  Henry  mentioning  that 
Moses  was  spoken  five  days  out  to  the 
Southward  of  Newfoundland  bank — a 
good  run  thus  far. 

20th.  The  Brig  Parthian  Bourne 
arrived  from  Stockholm  with  a  cargo 
of  iron.  In  the  afternoon  Wm.  and 
Sylvia  and  Catherine  and  myself  took 
a  ride  to  Cummings  a-shopping. 

21th.  Agreed  to  let  Elisha  Handy 
have  the  Wm.  Thatcher  at  the  halves 
to  go  to  the  Southward  and  run  to  the 
West  Indies. 

22d.  Dined  at  Father's  on  stall 
fed  wild  pigeons.  The  Ship  Europa 
and  Brig  Juno  sailed  this  morning  for 
the  southward. 

23d.  Monthly  meeting  day.  A  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  draw  up  a 
complaint  to  send  to  New  York  against 
Phebe  Johnson,  and  another  to  Eng- 
land against  Eliza  Ritch!  !  !  !  Put  on 
board  the  Ann  a  barrel  of  apples  and 
a  half  barrel  of  cranberries  for  Henry 
Grinnell   and   a   half   barrel   of   cran- 


berries for  Cousin  Fanny  Russell.  The 
monthly  meeting  decided  to  accept 
Cornelius*  resignation,  but  not  without 
some  opposition. 

24th.  Joseph  Rotch  purchased  of 
John  Coggeshall,  Jr.,  his  half  the  ship 
Minerva  for  $2000  to  be  paid  In 
strained  oil  to  the  amount  of  $850  at 
40%  cts.  a  gallon,  the  remainder  of 
the  amount  of  our  note  vs.  John 
turned  over  to  Joseph,  which  he  ia  to 
pay  us  for  when  convenient.  Took 
tea  at  Father's  Chas.  Whalen  there 
from  Saratoga  Springs. 

25th.  The  Ann  sailed  this  morning 
for  New  York.  Received  a  letter 
from  Cousin  Thos.  Russell  at  Phila- 
delphia, wishing  me  to  endeavour  to 
raise  him  some  money  to  set  himself 
up  in  business  in  Tennessee. 

26th.  Sunday.  A  short  sermon  from 
Eliza  Rotch  in  which  she  related  the 
treatment  which  Ben  Rodman  received 
last  fifth  day  at  Lynn  meeting.  While 
he  was  speaking  some  of  the  head 
Devils  laid  hold  of  him  and  dragged 
him  out  of  the  house.  About  thirty 
persons  left  the  meeting  in  disgust. 
He  had  said  nothing  that  was  in  the 
least  way  exceptionable,  but  that  spirit 
of  persecution  which  they  possess  In 
such  an  eminent  degree  would  not 
suffer  him  to  bear  testimony  among 
them.  Mary  and  Susan  dined  and 
spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  with 
us.  In  the  evening  Cornelius,  D. 
Whitridge,  Mr.  T.  and  Cousin  Abey 
gave  us  their  company. 

27th.  Rainy  day.  Burnt  out  the 
chimneys  at  the  house. 

28th.  Another  unpleasant  day.  Cor- 
nelius, Mr.  Smith  and  Mary  at  our 
house  in  the  evening.  Had  a  little  bit 
of  a  supper. 

29th.  Left  home  this  morning  for 
Taunton.  Turned  in  by  Jlreh  Swifts' 
and    went    by    Rounseville's    furnace, 


[62] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


through  the  Beech  "Wood  country  to 
W.  B.  Canedy.  Got  to  Taunton  at  one 
o'clock.  Called  on  C.  Richmond  and 
Otis  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing 
some  cotton  goods  for  the  Minerva. 
Mr.  Otis  accompanied  me  and  a  Mr. 
Chevers  from  Philadelphia  through 
several  of  their  cotton  and  iron  fac- 
tories, and  to  their  new  building  be- 
ing erected  for  printing  calicoes.  Spent 
the  afternoon  very  agreeably.  Stayed 
at  Atwood's. 

30th.  Left  Taunton  this  morning 
at  ten.  It  was  cold  and  very  unpleas- 
ant. Got  horn  at  2  o'clock.  W.  R. 
Rotch's,  wife  presented  him  this  morn- 
ing with  a  girl,  their  second  child. 
The  Experiment  arrived  this  morning. 
Benjamin  Rodman  this  morning  read 
a  few  pages  in  meeting  from  Wm. 
Penn's  works.  He  was  ordered  to  sit 
down  by  uncle  Casey.  Cornelius,  Wm. 
T.,  Dr.  Whitridge,  Capt.  Smith  and 
Mary  were  at  our  house  in  the  eve- 
ning. Had  a  cold  supper.  The  cap- 
tain was  in  one  of  his  best  trims  and 
we  had  a  very  pleasant  evening. 

31st.  Weather  still  unpleasant. 
Coppered  one  side  the  Minerva.  Went 
to  meeting  in  the  evening  at  the  "In- 
dependent Tabernacle"  to  hear  Dr. 
Stebbins,  a  preacher  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem church.  His  doctrines  rather 
too  deep  for  my  comprehension.  E. 
Thornton,  Jr.'s  wife  added  another  to 
their  stock  of  children  this  morning — 
a  girl. 

November. 

1st.  The  weather  still  very  un- 
pleasant. Not  able  to  do  much  with 
the  ship.  Spent  the  evening  at 
Father's. 

2d.  Sunday.  A  meeting  at  the  In- 
dependent Tabernacle  today  of  Uni- 
versalists.  Did  not  attend.  Wrote  a 
long  letter  to  Cousin  Tom  in  answer 
to  his  of  the  21st  of  last  month.    Of- 


fered to  loan  him  three  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  and  gave  him  an  invita- 
tion to  come  and  spend  the  winter 
with  us,  if  he  does  not  find  anything 
to  do  this  winter  in  Philadelphia.  In 
the  evening  Jos.  Rotch,  Cornelius  and 
Capt.  Smith  spent  the  evening  with 
us,  and  had  a  very  sociable  time  and 
a  little  supper.  They  stayed  till  past 
12  o'clock.  Jos.  Rotch  wrote  today  to 
New  York  ordering  the  Sophia  here 
to  send  her  a-whaling,  if  there  was  no 
immediate  prospect  of  business  for 
her  there. 

3d.  Finished  coppering  the  Min- 
erva. The  weather  now  very  pleasant. 
Had  radishes  for  tea  from  the  seed 
that  grew  this  year.  They  were  very 
good.  This  evening  I  ate  the  apple 
which  grew  on  my  English  Royal 
dwarf  received  from  France  this 
spring.  It  was  in  bloom  when  set  out. 
The  color  red  and  white  and  very  fine 
flavour. 

4th.  The  Brig  Planter  arrived  with 
150  bbls.  sperm  and  3  50  ds.  Humpback 
The  Ann  arrived  in  the  afternoon. 
Aunt  Bethiah  and  Wm.  Howland  (Pe- 
leg's  son)  came  in  her.  Catherine's 
carpet  and  some  ether  things  from 
oil.  Spent  the  evening  at  Nat's.  Had 
a  grand  supper  of  broiled  eels. 

5th.  Joseph  Rotch  dined  with  me. 
Cousin  Fanny's  also  came.  Took  tea 
at  Father's. 

6th.  Sent  to  Worcester  to  purchase 
a  cow.  Took  tea  and  spent  the  even- 
ing at  Cornelius'  with  the  girls.  Rain- 
ed in  the  evening. 

7th.  Dined  at  Joseph  Rotch's  with 
Capt.  Smith  and  R.  C.  Plummer,  Mary 
and  Susan  at  our  house  to  tea.  A 
rainy  day.  Mary  R.  Fleming  returned 
from   Boston. 

8th.  The  Experiment  sailed  for 
New  York.  Heard  of  the  surrender  of 
Cadiz  to  the  French.  Charley  Warren 
returned  from  Maine.   He,  Capt.  Smith 


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and  Cornelius  spent  the  evening  with 
us. 

9th.  Sunday.  The  ship  Young 
Phenix,  Capt.  Jos.  Dunbar,  arrived 
this  morning  in  the  short  passage  of 
32  days  from  Gothenburg  with  350 
tons  of  iron.  An  agent  of  Barclay's 
house  came  passenger  in  her.  Mr. 
Dewey  held  his  meeting  at  the  Inde- 
pendent Tabernacle,  which  he  will 
continue  to  do  while  they  are  enlarg- 
ing his  meeting  house.  I  went  all  day 
to  hear  him,  and  was  much  pleased 
with  his  sermons.  Sister  Sue  Warren 
and   Capt.   Smith   dined  with  us. 

10th.  Rainy.  Did  not  do  much  to 
the  ship. 

11th.  James  Arnold  in  town  from 
Boston.  Busy  in  getting  the  Wm. 
Thatcher  ready  for  New  York. 

12th.     House     cleaning     at     home. 
Dined    at    Father's.    Wrote    Moses    a 
long   letter    to   send   to   New   York    to 
be  forwarded  him  at  Gibraltar. 
13th.     Nothing. 

14th.  The  Minerva  Smyth,  Capt. 
McKenzie,  with  1800  bbls.  sperm  oil 
arrived  from  the  Pacific  ocean.  Brings 
no  news. 

15th.  In  the  evening  at  Father's, 
the  girls  had  a  party  of  young  ladies. 
Had  quite  a  merry  time. 

16th.  Sunday.  The  Wm.  Thatcher 
having  been  ready  a  number  of  days 
waiting  for  a  wind  to  go  to  New  York, 
sailed  this  morning.  Capt.  Mosher 
went  on  in  her  to  bring  the  Sophia 
here  to  fit  a  whaling. 

Went  to  hear  Mr.  Dewey  preach.  He 
gave  us  a  very  interesting  extemporan- 
eous discourse.  Wm.  Thomas  and 
Lucy  Whitridge,  Wm.  Howland  and 
sister  Susan  dined  with  us.  In  the 
afternoon  went  to  the  Quaker  meet- 
ing. Had  no  preaching.  In  the  morn- 
ing meeting  Phebe  Johnson  took  the 
high  seat  as  usual  and  stood  up  nearly 


all  meeting  time.  She  and  Eliza  Rotch 
both  had  considerable  to  say. 

17th.  Very  cold  with  a  consider- 
erable  fall  of  snow.  In  the  evening 
went  to  Uncle  Humphrey's  with  Nat 
and  Anna.  Had  a  supper  of  souse  and 
sausages. 

18th.  Heard  of  the  Parnassus  get- 
ting 150  bbls.  sperm  oil  and  shipped  it 
home  by  the  Brig  Nautilus.  Spent  the 
evening  at  Wm.  Swain's. 

19th.  The  Experiment  arrived 
from  New  York.  Received  a  stove 
for  the  store.  Edward  Russell  came 
passenger.  The  ship  Enterprise  from 
Havre  arrived  this  evening.  Stopped 
here  to  get  some  officers  and  stores 
and  then  to  proceed  to  the  Banks 
a-whaling.  Had  an  alarm  of  fire  in 
the  evening.  An  old  house  next  south 
of  Peter  Barney's  took  fire,  but  was 
extinguished  without  doing  any  ma- 
terial injury.  Nat.  and  Anna,  the 
girls,  Sally  E.,  Jos.  Rotch  and  Capt. 
Smith  spent  the  evening  with  us.  Had 
a  small  supper.  William  James  died 
very   suddenly  this  afternoon. 

20th.  Thanksgiving  Day.  Dined  at 
Nat.  Hathaway's  on  a  roast  leg  of 
venisoned  mutton.  In  the  evening 
went  to  the  grand  Oratorio.  The  So- 
phia got   here  from   New   York. 

21st.  A  very  pleasant  day.  A  good 
deal  of  business  doing  on  the  wharves, 
everything  wore  a  lively  appearance. 
The  New  England  Gazette — which 
last  week  while  Mr.  Warren  was  ab- 
sent changed  its  politics  in  favor  of 
Calhoun — this  day  came  out  again  in 
favor  of  Adams. 

22d.  Rainy  morning.  In  the  aft- 
ernoon nearly  completed  taking  into 
the  Minerva.  The  "Select  Meeting" 
has  denounced  Mary  Rotch  and  in- 
tends entering  a  complaint  against 
her  at  the  monthly  meeting.  Bought 
a    quarter    cask    (24    gals.)     Madeira 


[64] 


THE  CHANCELLOR  LIVINGSTONE 
An  Early  Steamboat  Described  in  the  Diary. 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


wine  of  Capt.  Lumbard  and  put  it  to 
settle  this  day.  Heard  of  the  fail- 
ure  of  the  Macy's  at  Nantucket. 

23d. — Sunday.  Mr.  Warren  re- 
turned from  Plymouth  last  evening 
and  brought  me  three  Brant.  He  and 
N.  Hathaway  dined  with  us.  They 
were  very  fine.  Did  not  go  to  meet- 
ing all  day  but  stayed  at  home  mak- 
ing out  invoice  of  the  Minerva's  car- 
go. Philip  Dunham  read  in  meeting 
a  part  of  the  Discipline  respecting 
liberty  of  conscience,  which  gave 
much  umbrage  to   the  old   school. 

24th.  Got  everything  on  board  the 
Minerva   ready  for  sea. 

25th.  The  Minerva  sailed  this 
morning  but  returned  again,  the  wind 
not  being  fair  after  getting  into  the 
Bay.  A  very  stormy  night.  Killed 
one  of  my  pigs. 

26th.  The  Minerva  succeeded  in 
getting  to  sea  this  morning.  Nearly 
calm  all  day.  Evening  very  foggy. 
Capt.  Smith  and  Cornelius  dined  witn 
us  on  spare  rib.  Parthian  sailed  for 
Philadelphia. 

27th.  Monthly  meeting  day.  Great 
excitement  among  the  good  friends  of 
the  Society  in  consequence  of  the 
Select  meetings  entering  a  complaint 
to  the  monthly  meeting  against  Mary 
Rotch  and  Elizabeth  Rodman,  and 
wishing  to  expel  them  from  the  Se- 
lect meeting  "for  rising  to  the  vocal 
prayer  of  one  who  was  not  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  and  attending  her 
meetings."  Although  ten  or  twelve 
opposed  them,  still  they  were  deter- 
mined to  carry  their  points,  but  by 
some  mistake  the  men's  meeting  was 
broken  up  before  the  women  were 
ready  to  send  it  in  for  their  concur- 
rence, and  therefore  they  were  de 
feated  in  their  plans  this  month. 

28th.  Dined  at  N.  Hathaway's. 
The  Ship  Florida,  Capt.  Price,  arrived 


from  the  Pacific  Ocean  with  1800 
bbls.  sperm  and  60  bbls.  whale  oil. 
Spent  the  evening  at  Nat's.  Had  a 
supper  and  a  good  time.  J.  Rotch, 
Smith,  Warren  etc.  were  there.  Brig 
Sarah,  Abm.  Grinnell,  sailed  for  New 
York. 

29th.  Took  tea  at  Father's.  In  th« 
evening  J.  Rotch,  Warren  and  Capt. 
Smith  were  there.  We  played  Baga- 
telle. Returned  home  about  ten.  They 
accompanied  us.  We  had  a  little 
supper  and  a  real  good  time.  Warren 
and  Smith  were  full  of  mirth  and 
spirits  and  they  kept  us  in  a  roar  till 
one,   when  they  departed. 

3  0th.  Went  to  the  Quaker  meet- 
ing this  morning.  Russell  Davis  gave 
us  a  sermon,  replete  with  his  usual 
sense  and  good  language.  In  the  aft- 
ernoon Phebe  Johnson  and  Debby 
Otis  had  some  sparring  and  as  usual 
the  latter  got  the  worst  of  it. 

December. 

1st.  Received  a  cow  from  Worces- 
ter. She  is  to  calve  in  March  or  April. 
A  very  pleasant  day  indeed.  This 
evening  at  8  o'clock  Sister  Sylvia 
brought  into  the  world  a  boy,  much 
to  the  satisfaction   of  the  concern. 

2d.  A  pleasant  day.  Warren  and 
Capt.  Smith  spent  the  evening  with 
us. 

3d.  Matthew  Barker  came  from 
Nantucket  to  attend  the  quarterly 
meeting.  Stayed  at  our  house.  Wil- 
liam  Howland   dined   with   us. 

4th.  Quarterly  meeting  day.  A 
good  deal  of  preaching  in  the  first 
meeting.  Eliza  Rotch  and  Phebe 
Johnson  took  the  head  of  the  High 
seat.  Both  had  something  to  say. 
Have  not  learnt  of  anything  of  im- 
portance transpiring  in  the  business 
meeting.  Father,  William,  Cornelius 
and  the  girls  dined  with  us.  About 
sunset  a  very  severe  storm  commenced 


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which  lasted  till  midnight.  Rained 
very  heavily  indeed.  The  girls  stayed 
all  night  with  us.  Jos.  Rotch  had  a 
supper  party  this  evening.  My  having 
company  prevented  my  going.  Under- 
stood they  had  a  very  moderate  time. 
Solomon  Hitchman,  a  laboring  man, 
found  dead  in  the  street  after  the 
storm. 

5th.  Mr.  Barker  went  to  Westport 
to  look  at  a  farm.  Went  with  Catha- 
rine and  the  family  to  see  the  "Grand 
Caravan  of  Living  Animals"  consist- 
ing of  three  lions,  a  tiger,  a  panther 
and  divers  many  other  beasts  of  the 
forest  with  a  wilderness  of  monkeys. 

6th.  Devoted  the  day  to  piling  up 
wood  at  home  and  overseeing  Howard 
saw.  Found  the  old  adage  true  that 
the  eyes  of  the  master  are  worth  more 
than  his  hands. 

7th.  Sunday.  The  Ship  Independ- 
ence Hammond  arrived  this  morning 
from  the  Pacific  ocean  with  2000  bbls. 
sperm  oil.  Went  to  the  Quaker  meet- 
ing in  the  morning.  Had  divers  much 
preaching  from  Phebe,  Eliza  Rotch 
and  others.  Lydia  Smith  dined  with 
us.  In  the  afternoon  went  to  hear  Mr. 
Dewey.  L.  Smith,  L.  Greene,  Mary  and 
Susan  with  Warren  took  tea  with  us 
and  spent  the  evening.  Had  a  little 
bit  of  a  supper  and  a  very  clever  time. 

8th.  Spent  the  day  at  home  attend- 
ing to  domestic  concerns. 

9th.  Josiah  Wood  and  son  stopped 
payment  this  day,  but  will  probably 
get  under  way  soon.  Received  a  let- 
ter from  Capt.  Lumbard  of  the  Min- 
erva. He  had  70  hours  passage  to  the 
Cape  of  Virginia.  He  had  purchased 
1100  barrels  of  flour  at  Richmond  for 
$5  70 — 100  per  barrel. 

10th.  The  first  snow  storm  this 
winter.  Not  much  fell  and  it  cleared 
away  at  noon.  Jos.  Rotch  left  for 
Newport  to  meet  his  wife.  Phebe 
Johnson  accompanied  him  on  her  way 


to  New  York,  which  will  be  a  matter 
of  much  rejoicing  to  the  old  school. 
Matthew  Barker  returned  from  West- 
port. 

11th.  Mr.  Barker  returned  home 
this  morning.  Read  "Reginal  Dalton," 
a  novel  by  Lockhart,  Scott's  son-in- 
law,  a  very  interesting  work.  J.  Rotch 
returned  from  Newport  with  his  wife. 
The  Amr.  arrived  from  New  Tork. 
Received  a  letter  from  cousin  Tom. 
He  had  got  a  situation  in  a  counting 
room  there  with  a  salary  of  $500  a 
year.  Rec'd  a  letter  also  from  Henry 
Grinnell  with  some  tapioca.  Went 
down  to  Father's  in  the  evening  and 
had  a  supper.  Cornelius  and  Capt. 
Smith  were  there  and  came  up  home 
with  us  where  we  found  Warren,  re- 
turned today  from  Taunton.  The  Capt. 
had  passed  off  a  grand  quiz  upon  us. 
He  made  us  believe  Warren  had  got 
into  a  quarrel  there  with  the  editor 
of  the  Free  Press  in  consequence  of 
something  he  had  written  in  the  Ga- 
zette. He  told  it  to  us  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  we  all  believed  him.  We  had 
a  merry  time.  They  stayed  till  twelve. 

12th.  The  Ship  Frances,  Capt. 
Swain,  arrived  from  the  Pacigc  ocean 
with  1600  bbls.  sperm  and  300  bbls. 
whale  oil.  Brings  no  news.  Business 
very  brisk  on  the  wharves  which  really 
looks  pleasant,  although  the  weather 
is  unpleasant.  Mary  and  Susan  dined 
with  us. 

13th.  Warren  dined  with  us.  Took 
tea  and  spent  the  evening  at  Corne- 
lius'. Rode  home  in  the  sleigh. 

14th.  Sunday.  The  Pomona  sailed 
this  morning  for  Norfolk  for  a  load  of 
corn.  Dined  at  Cornelius'  with  the 
girls.  The  Brig  President  arrived 
from  a  whaling  voyage  with  300  bbls. 
sperm  oil.  Did  not  go  to  meeting  all 
day. 

15th.  Snow  and  rain  all  day.  Very 
disagreeable  weather.    Cornelius  dined 


[68  J 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


with  us.  Warren  and  Smith  came  in 
the  evening.  They  talk  of  taking  the 
Gazette  to  manage  on  their  own  ac- 
count, which  I  hope  they  will  do. 

16th.  This  has  been  quite  an  im- 
portant day,  people  arriving  to  attend 
the  ordination  of  Mr.  Dewey  tomor- 
row, but  it  has  been  very  stormy 
through  the  day — raining  and  snow- 
ing. 

16th.  Warren  and  William  T.  dined 
with  me.  In  the  evening  attended  Mr. 
Holland's  second  Oratorio.  Was  con- 
sideiably  amused,  but  more  fatigued. 
The  audience  was  not  so  large  as  his 
first.  He  had  an  organ  from  Boston 
which  added  much  to  the  effect.  We 
did  not  get  away  till  after  ten.  When 
we  got  home  we  were  much  rejoiced 
to  find  letters  from  Moses.  Immedi- 
ately ran  down  to  Father's  before 
or  ening  mine  to  carry  the  pleasing 
news.  He  was  at  Pernambuco  but 
would  sail  in  a  few  days  for  a  better 
market  if  to  be  found.  He  was  well, 
but  his  prospects  of  making  a  good 
voj  age  rather  small.  Mr.  Warren 
stayed  with  us  tonight  to  make  room 
for  some  of  his  friends  at  Uncle 
Humphrey's  who  had  come  to  attend 
the  ordination.  Cousin  Ab'm  returned 
from  New  York  by  the  way  of  the 
steamboat. 

17th.  A  fine  day.  Attended  the 
ordination  of  Mr.  Downey.  The  house 
was  completely  filled  and  the  services 
were  very  interesting  and  impressive. 
Great  liberality  of  sentiment  was  ad- 
vanced; no  particular  creed  was  re- 
quired of  Mr.  Dewey,  but  he  was  left 
to  teach  his  congregation  after  the 
dictates  of  his  own  conscience.  I  was 
very  much  pleased  with  the  services, 
and  have  concluded  to  take  a  pew 
with  Mr.  Smith,  believing  that  the 
moral  lectures  and  Instruction  which 
I  shall  receive  from   Mr.   Dewey  will 


be  of  more  advantage  to  me  than  to 
attend  the  Friend's  meeting,  the  pro- 
ceedings of  which  have  been  of  late  so 
counter  to  my  ideas  that  I  feel  per- 
fectly satisfied  in  leaving  them  for  a 
time,  trusting  that  the  time  will  ar- 
rive when  it  will  be  a  pleasure  to  me 
to  return.  The  girls,  Cornelius,  Mr.  T. 
and  Capt.  Smith  dined  with  us.  In 
the  evening  we  went  to  meeting  to 
hear  Mr.  May,  a  classmate  of  Mr. 
Warren's,  and  was  well  pleased  with 
him.  He,  with  Warren,  came  to  our 
house  after  meeting  and  we  had  some 
oysters.  Smith,  Mr.  T.,  Cornelius  and 
the  girls  were  also  with  us.  We  found 
Mr.  May  a  very  pleasant  and  agree- 
able man. 

18th.  Judge  Davis  and  Mr.  Good- 
ing called  to  see  us  this  morning.  Not 
very  smart  today. 

19th.  A  very  rainy  day.  This 
morning  went  with  Capt.  Smith  and 
selected  a  pew  No.  —  in  Mr.  Dewey's 
meeting  house,  and  hired  it  for  a  year. 
Warren  and  Capt.  Smith  dined  with 
us.  In  the  afternoon  I  wrote  a  letter 
to  Cousin  Tom  Russell,  advising  him 
to  come  here  and  embrace  the  offer 
of  the  owners  of  the  Beneret  to  go 
out  in  her  as  supercago.  By  the  Brig 
Rubicon,  Capt.  Leech  from  Batavia, 
we  learn  that  "about  the  latter  part 
of  Nov.  the  Elizabeth  Clark  of  New 
Bedford  was  spoken  in  the  straits  of 
Timor  with  200  bbls.  of  oil  bound  to 
the  coast  of  Japan."  This  is  pleas- 
ing intelligence,  being  the  first  ac- 
counts we  have  had  from  Capt.  Clark 
since  his  leaving  Madeira. 

20th.  Informed  Capt.  Clark's  wife 
of  the  news  from  her  husband.  In  the 
evening  went  down  to  father's  and 
had  a  little  bit  of  supper.  J.  Arnold 
arrived  from   Boston. 

21st.  Sunday.  The  ships  Sophia, 
Capt.  Cathcart,  and  Enterprise,  Capt. 


69  ] 


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Gardner,  sailed  for  the  Brazil  Banks. 
Attended  Mr.  Dewey's  meeting  all  day 
and  was  much  pleased  with  his  ser- 
mons. Dined  at  brother,  Wm.  T. 
Warren  took  tea  with  us. 

2 2d.  Wrote  to  Moses,  and  put  it 
on  boarl  the  Ann  directed  to  Henry 
to  forward  at  Gibraltar. 

23d.  Very  rainy  indeed — my  cellar 
with  10  inches  of  water  standing  in  it. 
Warren,  Capt.  Smith  and  Nath'l  Hath- 
away dined  with  us  on  a  venisoned 
leg  of  mutton — very  fine. 

24th.  The  great  fall  of  rain  last 
night  seems  to  be  the  general  sub- 
ject of  conversation.  More  rain  has 
fallen  for  the  past  36  hours  than  was 
evex  known  in  the  same  space  of  time. 
Employed  all  day  writing  for  Jas. 
Arnold  in  J.  Rotch's  counting  room. 
The  quantity  of  rain  that  fell  in  the 
last  24  hours  was  4  7/8  inches  on  a 
level  by  S.  Rodman,  Jr. 

25th.  Monthly  meeting  day.  Great 
exertions  were  made  by  the  old  lights 
to  concur  with  the  women  meeting  in 
turning  Elizabeth  Rodman  and  Mary 
Rotch  out  of  the  Select  Meeting,  but 
the  opposition  was  so  great  they  weie 
under  the  necessity  of  postponing  it 
to  next  month.  We  had  a  real  month- 
ly meeting  dinner.  Father,  Cornelius, 
Wm.  and  the  girls  with  Mother  and 
Betsey  all  dined  with  us.  Cousin  Tom 
Rutsell  arrived  from  New  York  to 
go  out  in  the  Beneret.  He  spent  part 
of  the  evening  with  us.  We  had  a 
email  supper. 

£6th.  Cousin  Tom  and  Susan  spent 
the  evening  with  us. 

27th.  Busy  all  day  getting  small 
stores  for  Cousin  Tom,  who  dined  with 
us.  This  forenoon  the  Wilmington 
and  Liverpool  packet,  Capt.  Briggs, 
f:om  the  coast  of  Japan  arrived  with 
2 €00  bbls.  sperm  oil.  Took  tea  at 
t  ather's. 


2Fth.  Sunday.  Went  to  meeting 
this  morning.  Mr.  Kendal  from  Ply- 
mcuth  preached.  Cousin  Tom  dined 
with  us.  Did  not  have  any  tea.  Cal- 
culating on  having  a  snug  supper  of 
oysters  with  Cousin  Tom,  but  so  many 
chaps  came  in  during  the  evening 
that  we  were  obliged  to  give  it  up,  not 
having  enough  to  supply  them  all. 

I  Hh.  A  very  pleasant  day.  Cousin 
Tom  and  the  girls  took  tea  with  us. 
In  the  evening  we  had  a  small  supper. 

30th.  Spent  the  evening  at  Nat's 
with  cousin  Tom  and  Capt.  Smith. 
We  had  a  clam  supper  and  stayed 
till  past  eleven.  Miss  Sophia  had  her 
grand   party  this  evening. 

21st.  The  weather  uncommonly 
mild  and  pleasant  for  the  season,  but 
the  walking  exceeding  bad.  Cousin 
Tom,  Warren  and  Capt.  Smith  spent 
tne  evening  with  us.  Cousin  Tom  is 
now  all  ready  for  a  cruise  in  the  Paci- 
fic, and  only  waiting  for  a  wind. 
So  ends  this  year. 

January,  1824. 

1st.  The  Ann  sailed  this  morning 
for  New  York  having  been  detained 
by  the  wind  since  the  22d  ult.  My  let- 
ter to  Moses  has  gone  in  her.  Cousin 
Tom  sailed  this  morning  in  the  Ben- 
eret, Capt.  Covill,  for  the  Pacific  ocean 
on  a  trading  voyage,  in  the  capacity 
of  supercargo.  Wind  N.  E.  and  every 
appearance  of  the  brig's  having  an 
unpleasant  time  off  the  coast. 

Dined  at  Father's  with  all  the  broth- 
ers and  sisters.  Wm.  Warren  and  Wm. 
Grinnell  and  wife.  After  dinner  the 
gentlemen  went  up  to  the  westward  of 
Wm.  R's  to  a  lot  that  he  was  clearing 
up,  to  examine  the  remains  of  Sam. 
Tripp  who  hung  himself  Sept.  23,  1798, 
and  was  buried  up  there.  We  found 
the  coffin  perfectly  sound,  but  all  the 
body  had  entirely  decayed  except  the 
largest  bones  and  the  skull. 


[70] 


THE  ANN  ALEXANDER 


The  Ann  Alexander  was  commandered  by  Captain  Loum  Snow 
and  was  a  source  of  news  more  than  a  century  ago.  Whenever 
Captain  Snow  went  on  a  voyage,  something  interesting  happened. 
George  Howland.  senior,  was  the  agent  of  Captain  Snow's  vessel, 
which  was  named  the  "Ann  Alexander"  from  an  Irish  friend  who 
was  traveling  in  this  country.  Following  is  an  unembellished  nar- 
rative of  some  of  Captain  Snow's  experiences,  as  recorded  in  the 
archives  of  the  Old  Dartmouth  Historical  Society: 
Ship  Ann  Alexander  of  New  Bedford,  Georjpe  Howland,  agent;  Loum 

Snow,  master. 

1805.  October  21. — Captain  Snow,  in  command  of  ship  Ann  Al- 
exander, fell  in  off  Cape  Trafalgar  with  the  English  fleet  a  few  days 
after  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  between  the  English  fleet  and  the 
fleets  of  France  and  Spain,   which  occurred  October  21,   1805. 

The  Ann  Alexander  was  on  a  voyage  from  New  York  to  Leg- 
horn with  a  cargo  of  general  merchandise  consisting  of  flour, 
tobacco,    salt,    fish,    lumber,   etc. 

The  English  fleet  was  repairing  damages  which  had  occurred 
during  the  battle  with  the  combined  fleets. 

The  Ann  Alexander  had  a  deck  load  of  lumber  which  was  the 
personal  property  of  Captain  Snow.  An  English  officer  boarded  the 
Ann  Alexander  and  informed  Captain  Snow  that  Lord  Nelson  had 
been  shot  through  the  shoulder  and  spine  and  had  died  on  board 
the  "Victory  a  few  hours  after  the  battle  was  over,  and  that  Lord 
Collingswood  was  the  next  senior  officer  in  command.  The  English 
ships  showed  the  effects  of  the  battle,  and  their  crews  were  at 
work  repairing  the  damages. 

The  English  officer  returned  to  the  Victory  and  soon  returned 
with  a  request  from  Lord  Collingswood  that  we  would  let  him 
have  some  lumber,  flour  and  apples.  Captain  Snow  agreed  and 
soon  boats  from  the  different  ships  came  alongside  and  were  fur- 
nished  with  these   articles. 

The  captain  was  paid  for  these  goods  in  English  gold  by  the 
fleet  paymaster,  who  came  on  board  and  settled  accounts. 

The  Ann  Alexander  squared  away  for  the  Straits  of  Gibral- 
tar, and  on  the  following  day  came  up  with  the  new  74-gun  frigate 
United  States.  They  lowered  a  boat  and  came  alongside.  We  gave 
them  the  news  and  sent  to  the  commander  ten  barrels  of  apples. 

1806.  December  26 — On  a  voyage  from  St.  Ives,  England  to 
Leghorn,  France,  in  ship  Ann  Alexander,  sailing  from  St.  Ives, 
December  26,   1806,   Captain  Snow  had   the  following  experience: 

On  January  8,  1807,  they  were  captured  by  a  Spanish  privateer 
who  took  out  the  second  mate  and  crew  and  manned  her,  and 
ordered  her  to  proceed  to  Vigo,  Spain.  The  next  day  the  vessel 
was  captured  by  an  English  man-of-war,  who  took  out  the  crew 
and  put  aboard  a  prize  crew  of  nine  men  and  ordered  the  vessel 
to  Gibraltar. 

On  January  16.  1807,  in  the  Gulf  of  Gibraltar,  the  vessel  was 
again  taken  by  a  Spanish  privateer  and  carried  into  Algiers. 

Previous  to  putting  into  Algiers  Captain  Snow  enrolled  the 
English  prize  crew  as  his  crew,  and  on  arrival  at  Algiers  was 
allowed  by  the  authorities  to  take  possession  of  her  and  proceed 
on   his   voyage   to  Leghorn. 

On  August  20,  1851,  the  Ann  Alexander,  Captain  James  Deblois, 
was  attacked  by  an  infuriated  sperm  whale  which  had  been  made 
fast  to  by  one  of  the  other  boats,  which  had  been  stove.  This 
whale  stove  the  bow  of  the  Ann  Alexander,  and  she  was  sunk  in 
the  Pacific  ocean,  latitude  5-50  S.,  longitude  102-00  W.  The  cap- 
tain and  crew  took  to  their  boats  and  were  picked  up  by  another 
whaler,  the  ship  Nantucket. 


Although  the  ship  Essex  of  Nantucket  was  sunk  by  a  whale 
in  1819,  the  first  report  of  the  disaster  to  the  Ann  Alexander  ex- 
cited much  scepticism  in  the  newspapers  of  the  country,  and  a  re- 
port of  the  interesting  controversy  which  arose  is  printed  else- 
where in  this  edition.  Five  months  after  the  incident  the  whale 
that  wrecked  the  Ann  Alexander  was  captured  by  the  Rebecca 
Simms  of  this  port.  Two  of  the  Ann  Alexander's  harpoons  were 
found  in  the  whale,  and  pieces  of  the  ship's  timbers  were  found 
imbedded  in  the  whale's  head.  The  whale  yielded  about  75  barrels 
of  oil.  In  March,  1902,  the  bark  Kathleen  was  struck  by  a  whale 
when  a  thousand  miles  off  the  coast  of  Brazil,  and  sunk.  The  men 
took  to  the  whaleboats  and  were  subsequently  picked  up  by  a 
steamer. 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


2d.  Brought  the  account  books 
from  the  store  and  in  future  calculate 
to  go  down  in  the  morning  on  change 
for  an  hour,  then  return  to  attend  to 
writing,  and  go  down  again  at  4 
o'clock, 

3d.  Warren  dined  with  us.  Mary 
and  Susan  spent  the  evening  with  us. 
Sam  W.  Hussey  got  home  in  the  sloop 
William  from  Hayti — got  a  piece  of 
coral  from  him. 

4th.  Sunday.  Dined  at  Father's. 
Went  to  meeting  all  day.  In  the  eve. 
called  on  Mr.  Dewey  and  spent  the 
remainder  of  the  evening  in  R.  Smith 
&  Green's  room.  Weather  continues 
very  mild.  Wind  S.  W. 

5th.  A  very  pleasant  day.  Consid- 
erable sperm  oil  in  the  raw  state  sold 
at  41  cents  per  gallon. 

6th.  Stormy  day — warm,  rain.  Mr. 
Warren  dined  with  us.  Jas.  Co7igdon 
married  this  evening  to  Lucy  Randall. 

7th.  The  weather  again  pleasant, 
the  wind  to  the  north  west,  which  has 
not  been  the  case  for  a  long  time. 
Warren  dined  with  us.  Took  tea  and 
spent  the  evening  at  Cornelius'.  He  is 
full  of  the  idea  of  leaving  in  May  for 
the  western  part  of  New  York.  Wrote 
H'y  Grinnel  by  mail,  sending  him  a 
copy  of  the  Manifest  of  the  Benerefs 
cargo. 

8th.  Susan  dined  with  us.  Rec'd  a 
letter  from  Capt.  Lumbard  dated  26 
Dec,  then  ready  for  sea.  The  papers 
state  he  sailed  the  28th  from  Hampton 
Roads  for  South  America.  She  stowed 
1614  bbls.  Had  a  very  severe  sick 
headache. 

9th.  Mary  and  Susan  with  Warren 
dined  with  us.  Wrote  to  Boston  for 
insurance  on  cargo  of  S.  Minerva.  A 
great  stir  has  been  made  for  some  time 
past  to  endeavor  to  have  the  post- 
master turned  out  and  Chas.  Cog- 
geshall  to  be  put  in  his  stead.  A  peti- 
tion  was  sent  to  the  postmaster  gen- 


eral, but  it  ended  in  giving  Asa  a  re- 
primand. He  has  now  fixed  up  boxes 
for  us. 

10th.  Wind  S.  W.  Rained  all  day. 
Stayed  at  home  till  late  in  the  after- 
noon writing  in  the  books  and  draw- 
ing off  accounts.  In  the  evening  the 
wind  got  to  the  N.  E.  but  continued 
to  rain- 

11th.  Sunday.  Uncle  Caleb  Greene 
died  this  morning  very  suddenly.  He 
had  been  unwell  only  two  days.  His 
death  was  occasioned  by  the  reten- 
tion of  his  urine.  Rained  all  day. 
Wind  N.  E  Attended  Mr.  Dewey's 
meeting  all  day.  Capt.  Smith  dined 
with  us  and  he,  Warren  and  Wm.  T. 
took  tea  with  us. 

12th.  After  tea  Mary.  Susan,  Cath- 
arine and  myself  went  to  Nat's  and 
spent  the   evening — very   pleasant. 

13th.  Warren  dined  with  us.  After 
noon  attended  Uncle  C.  Greene's  fu- 
neral. Cornelius  and  Betsey  took 
with  us.  Father  gave  us  an  invita- 
tion to  come  down  to  eat  some  oys- 
ters with  'Neal,  Betsey,  Warren,  Wm. 
T.  and  the  girls.  We  had  a  grand 
time.  Father  brought  out  a  bottle  of 
the  ''June  Wine"  left  by  Cousin 
Fanny  which  put  us  all  in  high  glee. 
'Neal  had  his  new  suit  of  vineyard 
cloth  which  he  got  pretty  well  torn. 
After  Catharine  and  Betsey  went 
home  we  adjourned  over  to  the  Doc- 
tor's and  drank  a  bottle  of  his  "York 
wino".  For  my  own  part  I  was  pretty 
well  cut  and  the  others  not  much 
better  off.  We  did  not  get  him  till 
one. 

14th.  Felt  shocking  bad  all  the 
morning  from  last  night's  frolic.  The 
Experiment  arrived  from  New  York. 
Henry  sent  me  a  barrel  of  pippins 
and  a  bag  of  nuts.  Rec'd  the  Pilot 
by  the  Experiment.  Nat,  Anna,  the 
girls   and   Warren    dined   with    ua.    In 


[74] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


the  evening  we  read  some  in  the  Pilot 
and   were   much   entertained. 

15th.  Put  up  a  new  stove  rec'd 
from  New  York,  which  works  finely. 
Mary  and  Sally  E.  took  tea  and  spent 
the  evening  with  us,.  The  Pomona 
got  in  this  morning  from  Norfolk 
with  a  load  of  corn. 

16th.  Took  the  account  books 
from  the  house  to  the  counting  room. 
Given  up  the  plan  of  writing  at  home. 
Mr.  Warren  dined  with  us. 

17th.  A  company  of  black  theatri- 
nl  actors  arrievd  in  town.  They  in- 
tend performing  a  few  nights.  Much 
sport  is  anticipated.  Went  to  a  party 
this  evening  at  Francis   Rotch's. 

18th.  Sunday.  Samuel  Rodman, 
Jr's  lady  added  to  the  stock  of  mortals 
this  morning  a  son  and  a  daughter. 
Warren  dined  with  us.  Capt.  Smith 
and  Warren  spent  the  evening  with 
us  and  we  had  a  small  supper. 

19th.  A  small  flight  of  snow,  not 
.sufficient  tor  good  sleighing. 

20th.  Took  tea  at  Father's  with 
Nat  and  Anna.  Rec'd  accounts  by 
the  papers  of  Moses'  arrival  at  Rio, 
the  20th  of  November.  After  tea 
Warren  and  myself  went  to  the  Afri- 
can theatre  at  Cole's  Tavern.  The 
play  was  "Pizarro."  It  was  real  sport 
for  a  time  and  quite  a  burlesque  of 
the  stage.  One  of  the  fair  damsels 
gave  us  two  good  songs.  W<s  left  at 
nine  and  went  back  to  Father's  and 
had  a  little  supper. 

21st.  Rec'd  letters  from  Moses  at 
Rio.  He  was  in  good  health  and 
spirits  and  should  sell  cargo  at  that 
port.  Catherine  and  myself  spent  the 
evening  at  Nathaniel's.  We  had  an 
oyster  supper.  Some  snow  in  the  eve- 
ning, but  cleared  away  very  cold. 

22d.  Very  cold  last  night.  The 
water  was  skimmed  over  to  Palmer's 
Island.      Monthly    meeting   day.      The 


meeting  held  till  past  four  o'clock. 
The  case  of  Mary  Rotch  and  E.  Rod- 
man was  again  brought  up  before  the 
meeting.  A  great  deal  was  said.  Job 
Otis  told  the  clerk  that  he  had  the 
power  to  make  the  minute  as  he  con- 
sidered the  sense  of  the  meeting  with- 
out any  regard  to  the  opposition, 
which  he  immediately  did  and  read 
this  record  of  a  minute  that  the 
weightier  part  of  the  meeting  united 
with  the  women  in  disowning  them 
from  the  office  of  Elders.  This  caused 
a  general  burst  of  indignation  and 
the  clerk  had  to  erase  what  he  had 
done.  The  meeting  broke  up  without 
having  succeeded  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  wishes  of  the  old  lights. 
About  twenty-five  persons  spoke  on 
each  side.  Thos.  A.  Greene,  Sam. 
Rodman,  Jr.,  William  and  Thos. 
Swain  and  many  others  of  the  younger 
members  spoke  on  the  subject.  Cor- 
nelius dined  with  us..  He  read  us  a 
copy  of  a  long  letter  he  had  sent  that 
morning  to  D.  Otis,  giving  her  a  grand 
blow-up  for  visiting  his  wife  for  speak- 
ing in  meeting.  The  girls  spent  the 
evening  with  us. 

23d.  Cornelius  and  the  girls  dined 
with  us.  In  the  evening  Catharine  had 
a  large  party  of  the  Rothes.  Rodmans 
and  divers  many  others  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Dewey.  On  the  whole,  a  very 
clever  time,  particularly  in  the  "after 
piece"  when  most  of  the  company  had 
left.  Capt.  Smith  gave  us  a  few  the- 
atricals and  we  did  not  separate  until 
one  o'clock. 

24th.  Pretty  stupid  all  day.  Weath- 
er fine.  A  "weather  breeder",  as 
grandmother  would  say.  Capt.  Galli- 
son  arrived  from  Oyster  Bay  with  a 
cargo  of  oysters.  Nat.  spent  the  eve- 
ning with  us. 

25th..     Sunday.      William    quite    un- 
well for  the  first  time  in  hia  life.  Thie 


[75] 


LIFE 


I  N 


NEW 


BEDFORD 


evening  a  very  severe  storm  com- 
menced which  lasted  till  morning. 
Wind  blew  very  hard.  Capt.  Smith 
dined   with  us. 

26th.  John  Wood,  Jr.  stopped  pay- 
ment.    Warren  dined  with  us. 

27th.  The  Selectmen  have  forbid- 
den the  African  Corps  performing  any 
more  of  their  theatricals,  and  have 
threatened  them  with  a  prosecution. 
Rec'd  a  letter  from  Henry  Grinnell, 
also  a  back-gammon  board  to  replace 
the  one  given  Cousin  Tom  on  his  leav- 
ing. Nat  and  Anna  and  Wm.  T.  in 
in  the  evening. 

29th.  A  very  mild  and  pleasant 
day.  Took  a  ride  towards  the  head  of 
the  river. 

29th.  Warren  dined  with  us.  The 
Brig  "Phebe"  of  Bristol  put  in  in  dis- 
tress. 

30th.  Wm.  T.  Sylvia  and  the  girls 
dined  with  us.  In  the  evening  Cor- 
nelius and  Betsey,  Warren  and  Nat 
were  with  us. 

31st.  Dined  at  Nat's  with  Mr. 
Sampson  from  Boston.  Took  tea  at 
Father's.  Rec'd  a  letter  from  Moses 
at  Bahia.  Wrote  H.  Grinnell  and  J. 
Thornton.  The  weather  still  continues 
remarkably  mild  and  pleasant. 

February. 

1st.  Sunday.  Dined  at  Wm.  T's 
with  Mr.  Sampson,  Cornelius  ar.d 
Warren.  The  first  exceeding  cold 
day  this  winter.  Susan  camo  to 
spend  a  few  days  with  u>;.  In  rhe 
evening  we  had  Warren,  Capt.  Smith, 
Cornelius  and  Wm.  T.  Nothing 
would  do  but  they  must  have  a  sup- 
per and  Warren  and  'Neal  went  into 
the  kitchen  and  brought  out  all  the 
cold  pieces  in  the  house  and  we  made 
quite  a  good  repast  They  were  all 
in  a  grand,  merry  trim.  Win.  R.  and 
the   Misses   Stockton  went  to   Boston. 


2d.  The  Experiment  hauled  down 
to  the  Smoking  Rocks  to  avoid  the 
ice.  which  is  now  hard  in  the  river. 
She  is  loaded  with  oil  for  New  York. 
Although  the  wind  hauled  tj  the 
southward,  yet  we  have  had  a  very 
cold  day.  Had  a  very  still  time  this 
evening.  No  one  in  save  Cousin 
Bob. 

3d.  Weather  more  moderate.  War- 
ren and  Mary  with  Susan  dined  with 
us.  C  and  L  very  busy  making  cigar 
trays  and  card  racks.  Nat.  and  Anna 
took  tea  with  us.  In  the  evening 
Neal  came  in  and  Nat  and  myself 
went  went  with  him  home  about  nine 
to  have  some  fried  oysters.  After  we 
had  got  our  fill,  returned  back  to  our 
house  with  a  bowl  full  for  the  girls. 
Had  a  good  set  down  and  parted  at 
12  o'clock.  Some  snow  fell  this  eve- 
ning. 

4th.  Wm.  and  Lydia  Swain  took 
tea  with   us. 

5th.  The  coldest  day  this  winter — 
the  thermometer  this  morning  below 
zero.  Warren  dined  with  us.  In  the 
evening  we  went  to  Nat's  to  tea.  The 
Experiment  sailed  for  New  York, 

6th.  Warren  dined  with  us.  In 
the  evening  went  to  a  large  party 
at  Jos.  Rotch's. 

7th.  This  morning  J.  Rotch,  War- 
ren, Capt.  and  Rob't  Smith  with  my- 
self left  home  in  the  stage  for  Boston. 
The  day  was  very  mild  and  pleasant, 
and  although  the  stage  was  very 
crowded  we  had  a  merry  and  good 
ride.  Stopped  at  the  Marlboro  Ho- 
tel. In  the  evening  called  at  J.  W. 
Davis'  and  stayed  a  couple  of  hours. 

8th.  Sunday.  Went  to  Mr.  Chan- 
ning*s  meeting  expecting  to  hear  him 
preach,  but  he  did  not.  A  Mr.  Fur- 
nans  took  his  place.  After  meeting 
spoke  to  Miss  Arnold.  Went  to  J. 
W.  Davis'  to  dine.     J.  Rotch  and  my- 


i  76  ] 


From  a  portrait  owned  by  the  Swain  Free  School. 
WILLIAM  W.  SWAIN 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


self  went  with  Capt.  Smith  to  take 
tea  at  his  boarding  house,  where  we 
had  the  pleasure  of  being  introduced 
to  Miss  Hawthorne,  the  Captain's 
lady,  and  we  were  both  much  pleased 
with  her  appearance  and  manners. 
She  is  not  a  beauty,  but  has  a  very 
intelligent  face  and  good  form. 

9th.  This  morning  went  to  the 
State  House  and  stayed  some  time  in 
the  House  of  Representatives.  Capt. 
Smith  and  myself  went  to  the  office 
of  the  Savings  Bank  and  to  a  Book 
store  and  purchased  Parker's  Edition 
of  the  "Waverly  Novels"  and  Miss 
Edgeworth's  works  also.  Dined  at 
the  Marlboro'  with  Warren,  his 
brother  Pelham,  and  Jos.  Rotch.  Af- 
ter dinner  Jos.  Rotch  and  myself 
took  a  hack,  stopped  at  Miss  Haw- 
thorne's for  the  Capt.  and  went  to 
South  Boston  to  see  the  Glass  Works. 
The  superintendent,  Mr.  Jones,  was 
very  polite  to  us.  He  took  us  through 
all  the  different  works,  which  were 
in  full  operation  of  blowing,  pressing, 
grinding  and  making  window  glass. 
I  was  much  interested  as  it  was  the 
first  time  I  had  seen  anything  of  the 
kind.  In  the  evening  J.  Rotch.  Rob't 
Smith  and  Capt.  and  his  lady  with 
myself  attended  the  theatre  to  hear 
Tom  and  Jerry  perform.  I  was  very 
much  amused.  After  the  perform- 
ance we  returned  to  the  Marlboro'  ac- 
companied by  Mr.  Braden,  had  a  sup- 
per and  a  long  talk  with  Baust,  the 
actor  who   played   Tom. 

10th.  This  morning  called  on  Miss 
Arnold,  at  J.  W.  Davis',  and  at  the 
Judges.  D:ned  at  the  Marlboro'.  In 
the  afternoon  "Logic"  and  myself 
sauntered  about  town,  went  to  J.  W. 
Davis'  to  tea.  Miss  Betsey  Davis  was 
there  from  Plymouth.  After  tea  Bob 
and  myself  went  to  the  Circus.  Tom 
and   Jerry   at   the   Epsom   Races  was 


performed,  but  it  was  a  flat  concern 
as  well  as  the  after  piece,  Valentine 
and  Orson,  but  the  riding  was  su- 
perb. It  was  the  first  time  I  had 
been  at  the  Circus,  which  made  it  very 
interesting.  In  the  evening  J.  Rotch 
and  Mr.  Braden  came  in.  The  form- 
er left  soon  to  attend  a  ball  at  Mr. 
Dexter's.  Rob't  had  a  letter  from 
home  stating  the  arrival  of  the  Ros- 
coe  full  of  sperm  oil  day  before  yes- 
terday, the   8th. 

11th.  The  day  unpleasant  and 
rainy.  Spent  an  hour  at  the  Athen- 
ian very  pleasantly.  Finished  all  my 
business  this  morning  and  ready  to 
leave  home  on  the  morrow.  Dined 
at  J.  W.  Davis'  with  a  large  party, 
among  them  Warren  and  his  Miss 
Hedge,  Dr.  Robbins  and  his  Miss 
Hedge,  Mr.  Bliss  and  Miss  B.  Davis, 
Capt.  Smith,  Dr.  Niles,  &c,  and  we 
had  a  very  handsome  dinner.  In  the 
evening  most  of  us  went  to  the  thea- 
tre— Shakespeare's  Jubilee  for  the 
first  time  was  performed.  There  was 
too  much  of  it,  though  very  interest- 
ing. It  consisted  of  scenes  from  each 
of  Shakespeare's  plays.  Did  not  get 
away  till  one  o'clock.  It  rained  and 
blew  a  gale.  After  partaking  a  sup- 
per at  the  Marlboro'  with  Warren. 
Rotch  and  others  we  retired  at  two 
o'clock  pretty  well  tired. 

12th.  Called  this  morning  at  4 
o'clock  and  left  Boston  at  five  in  the 
stage  for  home.  Still  raining.  We  had 
a  merry  party,  all  of  our  own  ac- 
quaintance except  two  gentlemen. 
There  was  Rob't  and  Lydia,  Mrs.  Nye, 
Warren,  J.  Rotch,  Geo.  Brayton  and 
myself.  It  was  ten  before  we  got  to ' 
breakfast,  a  distance  of  18  miles,  the 
riding  was  so  bad.  The  forward  wheels 
sunk  to  their  hubs  in  the  mud  nearly 
all  the  way.  About  eight  it  cleared 
away  very   pleasantly;   the   sun   shone 


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out  and  it  continued  to  be  pleasant  all 
day.  Before  getting  to  Taunton  the 
stage  driver  sent  an  express  for  a  relay 
of  horses,  which  met  us  within  four 
miles  of  Taunton,  when  we  all  got  in 
and  rode.  Most  of  us  had  been  walk- 
ing for  three  miles.  Got  to  Taunton 
at  half  past  two,  and  at  five  got  to 
Sampson's  to  dine.  We  had  an  ex- 
cellent dinner.  All  in  good  spirits  and 
full  of  mirth,  we  enjoyed  the  dinner 
much.  From  Sampson's,  home,  the 
riding  improved  all  the  way.  The 
moon  shone  very  bright  and  a  merry 
time  we  had.  The  ladies,  Brayton  and 
Warren  sung  a  variety  of  songs.  Ar- 
rived at  home  at  nine.  Warren  stopped 
with  me.  Pound  Mary  and  Sylvia  there 
besides  Susan.  Cornelius,  Nat  and 
Wm.  T.  came  in  in  the  evening.  Went 
to  bed  pretty  well  tired  out.  Warren 
brought  us  a  dozen  pewter  plates  in 
Boston  and  made  Madam  a  present 
of  them.  Since  I  have  been  gone 
letters  have  been  rceived  from  Moses 
stating  that  he  could  not  sell  his  cargo 
at  Rio,  and  was  going  to  proceed 
either  to  Buenos  Ayres  or  Montevideo. 

13th.  Warren  dined  with  us.  The 
Experiment  arrived  from  New  York 
in  24  hours.  Thos.  Rotch  and  lady  and 
Mr.  Fleming  came  passengers.  Corne- 
lius and  Betsey  spent  the  evening  with 
us. 

14th.     An  unpleasant  day  . 

15th.  Sunday.  Rob't  Smith  and 
lady  with  Warren  took  tea  with  us. 
Talked  over  our  Boston  jaunt  with 
much  pleasure. 

16th.  Capt.  Smith  returned  from 
Boston;  He,  Warren,  Neal  and  the 
doctor  spent  the  evening  with  us. 

17th.  Catherine,  Susan  making 
cigar  trays,  etc.  Rec'd  the  Waverly 
Novels  and  other  books  that  I  bought 
in  Boston.  Had  a  letter  from  Moses 
at  Rio — not  in  very  good  spirits. 


18th.  The  great  talk  of  the  day  is 
the  blowing  up  of  the  character  of 
Ogden,  the  famous  author  of  Notus 
Mimini  and  Letters  from  the  West.  He 
turns  out  to  be  a  great  impostor  and 
scoundrel,  that  his  name  is  an  as- 
sumed one.  He  has  run  off  without 
bidding  his  creditors  a  good-bye.  War- 
ren and   Mary   dined   with   us. 

19th.  The  Nantucket  packet  got 
off.   Warren   dined   with   us. 

Robert  Swain  sick,  situation  rather 
critical. 

20th.  Capt.  Smith  dined  with  us. 
Went  to  Father's  to  tea.  Nat  and  Anna 
and  others  were  there. 

21st.  Susan  left  us  today,  after 
spending  three  weeks  with  us. 

22d.  Sunday.  An  exceeding  stormy 
day.  Went  to  the  "Quaker  meeting  this 
forenoon,  expecting  to  hear  the  Eng- 
lish minister,  Stephenson,  preach,  but 
in  the  early  part  of  the  meeting  Eliza 
Rotch  made  some  remarks  on  the 
awfulness  of  speaking  in  one's  own 
will,  that  the  poor  man  held  his  peace 
the  whole  day,  much  to  the  disap- 
pointment of  many.  Nathan,  Warren 
and  Dr.  Whitridge  spent  the  evening 
and  took  tea  with  us.  Susan  fainted 
this  morning,  but  much  better  in  the 
evening.  Neighbor  George  Howland's 
wife  added  a  daughter  to  her  flock 
this  morning. 

23d.  Nothing  worth  remarking  oc- 
curred this  day. 

24th.  Warren  and  Mary  dined 
with  us.  Very  cold  evening  and  night. 

25th.  Dined  at  Cornelius'  with  the 
girls,  Smith  and  Warren  on  calf's 
head  soup.  Had  a  good  time. 

26th.  Monthly  meeting  day.  The 
English  minister  was  here.  I  attended 
the  meeting.  He  had  a  good  deal  to 
say,  which  occasioned  some  remarks 
from  Micah  and  Benj.  Rodman.  The 
former  observed  that  the  doctrine  he 
advanced    to    us    was    good,     but    the 


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AGO 


situation  of  this  particular  meeting 
was  such  that  it  was  dead  to  them. 
The  last  meeting  finished  at  3  o'clock. 
The  case  of  E.  Rotch  and  E.  Rodman 
was  again  renewed,  but  postponed  to 
next  month,  the  orthodox  not  being 
sufficiently  strong  to  push  the  case 
forward  without  the  assistance  of  the 
quarterly  meetings  committee,  who 
are  to  be  here  next  month  to  lend 
their  aid.  Father  and  Cornelius  dined 
with  us.  Put  five  pieces  of  beef  to 
salt  for  drying,  also  salted  a  barrel  of 
beef  this  evening. 

27th.  The  wind  blew  a  gale  all 
last  night  from  the  south  east.  This 
afternoon  friend  Stephenson  had  an 
appointed  meeting.  It  was  pretty  well 
attended.  He  had  a  good  deal  to  say 
and  spoke  very  well,  used  good  lan- 
guage, and  seemed  to  lean  a  little  in 
favor  of  the  New  Lights. 

28th.  Nat  and  Anna  took  tea  and 
spent  the  evening  with  us.  Cornelius 
this  day  has  given  us  the  idea  of  mov- 
ing into  the  western  part  of  the  state 
of  New  York  to  live,  and  has  con- 
cluded to  go  down  to  Potomska,  much 
to  the  joy  of  us  all. 

29th.  The  last  day  of  winter, 
which  has  been  a  very  uncommon  one 
but  very  little  snow,  no  sleighing,  the 
weather  very  mild,  but  a  larger  quan- 
tity of  rain  has  fallen  than  ever  be- 
fore remembered  in  one  season.  No 
meeting  at  Mr.  Dewey's  church  today, 
he  being  absent  to  Boston.  Went  to 
the  Quaker  meeting  this  morning.  We 
had  a  long  sermon  from  the  English 
minister  and  a  go,od  prayer.  Susan 
and  Capt.   Smith   dined  with  us. 

The  Brig  Cornelia  arrived  from  New 
York  from  a  skinning  voyage  in  the 
Pacific  ocean,  in  which  she  was  unsuc- 
cessful, and  went  a-freighting.  A 
boat  was  upset  alongside  the  Brig 
while   coming  up   the   river,   with   five 


young  men  in  her,  one  of  whom,  a  car- 
penter by  name  of  Dillingham,  was 
drowned. 

March. 

1st.  The  ship  Young  Phenix  and 
the  packet  Experiment  sailed  for  New 
York — very  cold  and  windy. 

2d.  Spent  the  day  at  the  Candle 
Works,  settling  accounts  with  Wm.  T. 
He  dined  with  us  today  on  mutton 
chops.  In  the  evening  we  went  down 
to  Uncle  Humphrey's  to  see  Warren, 
who  is  laid  up  with  a  swelled  face, 
owing  to  his  defective  teeth. 

3d.  Capt.  Smith  and  Susan  dined 
with  us.  My  Worcester  cow  had  a  calf 
this  day  at  noon.  Went  to  Father's  to 
tea  and  spent  the  evening.  Rec'd  St. 
Ronan's  Well. 

4th.  Dined  at  Wm.  T.'s  with  a 
party  of  old  folks.  At  meeting  today 
Debby  Otis  made  a  prayer,  during 
which  Ben.  Rodman  kept  his  seat  and 
when  she  had  finished  he  said  the 
reason  for  his  not  rising  was  that  he 
could  not  unite  in  prayer  with  one 
who  did  not  possess  the  spirit  of 
prayer.  This  was  trying  indeed  to 
the  friends  of  Debby  and  her  good 
self,  and  in  the  afternoon  the  over- 
seers had  him  before  them,  but  Ben 
made  them  consent  to  his  having  some 
one  present,  as  they  come  with  preju- 
diced minds  against  him.  They  were 
together  the  whole  afternoon,  and 
Ben  told  them  some  plain  truths.  If 
they  possibly  can,  they  will  bring  him 
before  the   meeting  next  month. 

5th.  Took  tea  at  Nathaniel's  and 
spent  the  evening.  Mr.  Warren  most 
well.  Out  for  the  first  time  this  after- 
noon at  Nat's. 

6th.  A  very  pleasant  day.  Jos.  How- 
land,  Cornelius  and  Wm.  T.  dined 
with  us.  Took  a  ride  after  dinner  with 
Catharine  and  Edward.  Agreed  to  sell 
Chas.  Grinnell  from  the  Candle  Works 


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13,000  spermi  in  casks  @  24c  per 
cash,  to  be  delivered  the  28th  day  of 
June  next. 

7th.  Sunday.  Mr.  Dewey  returned 
from  Boston  yesterday.  Attended  his 
meeting.  Warren  dined  with  us.  Ben 
Rodman  appeared  at  meeting  today 
with   a   black   double-breasted   coat. 

8th.  Spent  the  evening  at  Cousin 
Jos.  Ricketson's  at  a  tea  party. 

9th.  An  alarm  of  fire  this  evening 
from  Dillingham's  Hatter's  shop,  but 
was  soon   put  out. 

10th.  Cornelius  went  down  to  his 
farm  today  and  commenced  digging 
the  cellar  for  an  addition  to  the  house. 

11th.  Answered  a  letter  received 
.some  time  since  from  D.  G.  Fisk.  A 
large  tea  party  at  Father's.  Some 
dancing  in  the  evening.  We  had  a 
real  merry  time.  In  the  afternoon 
'Neal  and  Nat  were  up  to  Tom  Rotch's 
and  they  all  got  pretty  well  cut.  Nat 
was  not  able  to  come  to  Father's. 
The  Brig  Elitus,  Capt.  Almy,  arrived 
in    at   Tarpaulin   Cove    from    Havre. 

12th.  Had  a  saddle  of  mutton 
cooked  which  I  had  had  in  keeping 
for  a  month.  It  was  very  fine.  'Neal. 
Nat,  Dock  Russell  and  Capt.  Smith 
dined  with  us.  In  the  evening  we 
went  to  a  party  at  Uncle  Elkaneh's. 
Jas.  Arnold   came   up   from   Boston. 

13th.  Nat  dined  with  us  on  the  re- 
mains of  the  mutton.  The  Elitus  got 
in.  Sold  my  horse  Robin  to  Father 
for  $150. 

14th.  Sunday.  The  Experiment 
from  New  York,  received  letters  from 
Henry   Grinnell. 

15th.     A  very  pleasant  day. 

16th.  Commenced  snowing  early 
this  morning  and  continued  to  snow 
during  the  day.  More  snow  than  at 
any  one  time  this  winter.  Three- 
eights  of  the  Brig  Cornelia  was  sold 


at  auction  today  for  $115  0,  bought  by 
S.  Russell  &  Sons. 

17th.  Continued  to  snow  most  of 
the  day.  The  ship  Florida,  Capt. 
Price,  sailed  for  Baltimore.  Took  a 
short  ride  round  town  with  Father's 
girls.  Sleighing  bad.  Jireh  Perry's 
wife  put  to  bed — got  a  daughter. 

18th.  Preparation  meeting.  Benj. 
Rodman  informed  the  meeting  that 
he  intended  to  enter  a  complaint 
against  the  overseers  next  month  for 
detraction!  Received  letters  from 
Moses  at  Buenos  Ayres.  To  the  first 
Jan.  he  had  sold  his  cargo  at  a  pretty 
good  price.  The  girls  and  'Neal  were 
at  our  house  when  I  brought  the  let- 
ters home.  We  were  all  much  de- 
lighted. Jos.  Rotch  laid  up  with  the 
Gout.  Chas.  Grinnell's  son  about 
two  years  old  died  with  a  lung  fever. 

19th.  This  evening  at  a  large  party 
at  Wm.  R's  we  had  some  dancing  and 
a  merry  time.  Warren  returned  from 
Taunton. 

20th.  Rainy.  Father's  French  girl 
Virginia,  left  with  them  by  Jere. 
Winslow,  ran  away. 

21st.  Sunday.  Attended  Mr.  Dew- 
ey's meeting  all  day.  Called  to  see 
Jos.  Rotch  who  is  still  confined  to  his 
room  with  the  gout  in  his  great  toe. 
Warren  dined  with  us.  Borrowed  of 
Father  the  letters  of  Paul  and  Amicus, 

2 2d.  The  Experiment  left  for  New 
York.  Tom  Hathaway  went  in  her  on 
his  way  to  Baltimore.  Put  %  oz.  isin- 
glass to  the  Madeira  wine  bought  of 
with  which  I  have  been  very  much 
interested.  Two  ships  gone  into  Tar- 
paulin Cove  this  afternoon.  The 
knowing  ones  call  them  the  Europa 
and  the  George  and  Susan. 
Capt.  Lumbard.  The  ships  that  were 
in  the  Cove  got  in  this  evening.  One 
was  the  Europa  from  Liverpool,  the 
other    the    Richmond,    Capt.     Covell, 


[  82  ] 


MRS.  WILLIAM  W.  SWAIN 

From  a  photograph  taken  in  old  age  in  her  garden.     She  was  the  beautiful 

Lydia  Russell. 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


from    Brazil    banks    with    2200    bbls. 
whale  and  80  bbls.  sperm  oil. 

23d.  By  the  Rambler  arrived  at 
the  old  town,  we  hear  that  the  Alli- 
ance had  left  the  coast  of  Japan  with 
1450  bbls.  (full)  bound  home,  so  that 
she  may  be  expected  any  day.  Re- 
ceived letters  from  Moses  at  Buenos 
Ayres  to  the  6th  Jan'y.  To  sail  next 
day  for  Rio.  Warren  and  Nat  gone 
to  Taunton  to  attend  a  Democratic 
Caucus  for  Governor  and  Senators. 
May  Tyson  died  this  morning — left  a 
child  two  days  old — a  daughter. 

24th.  Catharine  taken  suddenly  ill 
and  confined  to  her  bed. 

25th.  Received  from  F.  Rotch 
three  French  pear  trees  received  from 
Paris  this  spring.  Monthly  meeting 
day.  The  old  lights  succeeded  in  car- 
rying their  points,  and  the  clerk  en- 
tered on  the  books  that  they  were 
united  in  disowning  Mary  Rotch  and 
Elizabeth  Rodman  from  their  elder- 
ship, and  sent  the  same  to  the  Quar- 
terly meeting  for  their  concurrence 
This  is  a  high  handed  measure,  and 
had  the  decided  disapprobation  of  a 
large  number  of  the  members,  and 
those  too  who  were  by  far  the  most 
respectable  in  the  Society.  If  the 
Quarterly  meeting  consents  to  these 
proceedings,  it  will  most  likely  cause 
a  separation  in  the  Society. 
No.  4  Winter  Good  Christian 
No.  3  Summer  Ditto 
No.   6   St.  Germain. 

26th.  Wm.  and  Sylvia  and  the  girls 
took  tea  with  us. 

27th.  Weather  very  fine.  Jos. 
Ricketson  sick  with  a  lung  fever. 

28th.  Sunday.  Mary  and  Susan 
dined  with  us.  Catharine  came  down 
to  dine  with  us  for  the  first  time  since 
she  has  been  confined  to  her  room. 
Some  sharp  shooting  at  the  Quaker 
church  this  morning. 


29th.  Stormy  day.  Mr.  Barker  came 
off  from  Nantucket  to  attend  the 
Quarterly  meeting. 

30th.  Weather  very  pleasant.  The 
Rosetta  arrived  from  New  York.  At- 
tended a  caucus  this  evening  on  ac- 
count of  the  approaching  election. 
Gave  Cornelius  my  Worcester  calf  to 
raise.  Heard  of  the  Capt.  of  the  Swift, 
and  two  of  his  men  being  killed. 

31st.  Dined  at  Father's  with  Elisha 
Hathaway,  Mr.  Barker  and  some 
others.  Heard  by  the  Ganges  arrived 
at  Holmes  Hole  that  the  Wm.  Rotch 
with  1600  bbls.  and  Alliance  with  1400 
bbls.  were  left  at  Wahoo  in  October. 
April. 

1st.  The  Experiment  arrived  from 
New  York.  Quarterly  meeting  day 
The  weather  was  fine  and  the  meeting 
large.  A  good  deal  of  preaching. 
Priscilla  Hunt  had  considerable  to 
say — she  is  a  New  Light. 

Father,  Cornelius,  Wm.  T.,  Cousin 
Abey   and   Mary   dined   with   us. 

The  last  meeting  held  till  past  six 
o'clock,  when  they  succeeded  in  giv- 
ing the  finish  to  turning  M.  Rotch 
and  E.  Rodman  out  of  their  situa- 
tions as  elders.  P.  Hunt  had  a  good 
deal  to  say  in  the  last  meeting,  which 
galled   the   old    school   not   a    little. 

Heard  of  Moses'  arrival  at  Rio  from 
Buenos   Ayres. 

2d.  M.  Barker  and  other  Nan- 
tucket friends  left  early  this  morn- 
ing. P.  Hunt  went  with  them,  but 
severally  were  much  grieved  for  fear 
that  she  might  contaminate  them. 
The  ship  Iris,  Capt.  G.  Howland, 
sailed  for  New  York.  Heard  of  the 
ship  Roscoe  on  the  10th  of  Dec.  off 
the  Friendly  Islands  with  2100  bbls. 
sperm  oil. 

In  the  evening  went  down  to  Cor- 
nelius' and  had  an  oyster  supper  with 
Father   and   the  girls. 


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3d.  Politics  are  the  order  of  the 
day.  Great  exertions  are  being  made1 
by  the  Federalists  to  displace  Gov. 
Eustis  and  the  Democrats  are  using 
greater  exertions  to  reelect  him, 
which  I  most  sincerely  hope  they  will 
fail   in. 

Received  letters  from  Moses  to  the 
1st  of  Feb.,  stating  he  should  sail  for 
Trieste  in  8  days  with  a  cargo  of 
sugar. 

4th.  Sunday.  This  has  been  a  day 
of  great  excitement  among  the  Quak- 
ers. Mary  Newell  arrived  in  town 
last  evening,  on  her  way  to  Philadel- 
phia in  the  company  of  Andrew 
Robeson  and  others.  It  was  soon 
known  among  the  New  Lights  that 
she  would  be  at  meeting  and  there 
was  a  general  attendance.  The  fore 
part  of  the  meeting  was  taken  up 
in  short  skirmishes,  until  Mr.  Newell 
took  the  floor  and  preached  for  about 
three  quarters  of  an  hour  very  elo- 
quently, after  she  had  taken  her  seat. 
Cornelius  Howland  denounced  her 
and  her  doctrine,  said  she  had  come 
among  us  to  cause  disorder,  etc.  and 
that  she  had  established  a  separata 
meeting  of  her  own  where  she  lived 
Her  husband  rose  and  said  this  wa«- 
not  correct.  Jos.  Rotch  said  that  as 
there  were  many  present  who  were 
not  members  of  the  Society,  he  would 
inform  them  that  she  had  not  been 
disowned  by  the  Society  as  stated  by 
C.  Howland,  but  by  a  faction.  B. 
Rodman  rose  and  said  he  was  author- 
ized to  state  to  the  meeting  that  Mr. 
Newell  would  hold  a  meeting  this 
afternoon  at  the  Independent  Meet- 
ing house.  This  was  pretty  nettling. 
The  meeting  then  separated,  but 
there  was  a  deal  of  spatting  before 
the  house  was  cleared.  Upon  the 
whole,  this  was  the  highest  time  we 
have  had.  At  4  o'clock  we  assembled 
at    the    Tabernacle,    which    was    soon 


crowded  to  excess.  She  gave  us  a 
good  New  Light  sermon.  The  day 
has  been  very  pleasant.  C.  and  my- 
self took  a  short  ride  before  dinner. 
Cornelius,  Betsey  and  the  girls  dined 
with  us.  In  the  evening,  called  with 
Wm.   T.   on   Mr.   Dewey. 

5th.  Town  meeting  day.  In  the 
morning  the  town  affairs  were  attend- 
ed to.  Killy  Eldredge  was  chosen 
Town  Clerk.  Treasurer  and  collector 
of  taxes,  Wm.  Hathaway.  Joseph 
Bourne  and  Ephraim  Kempton,  Se- 
lectmen. In  the  afternoon  officers 
for  the  State  were  voted  for  an  the 
result  was  as  follows:  Samuel 
Lathrop  360 — Wm.  Eustis  145 — for 
Gov.  Richard  Sullivan  355 — M.  Mor- 
ton 150  for  Lt.  Gov.  Thos.  Rotch  391 
— Starkweather  363 — Brownell  371 — 
S.  Hodges  144 — Mason  115 — Pratt  136 
— for  Senators.  The  Democrats  never 
made  greater  exertions  than  they 
have  this  year  in  this  and  the  three 
neighboring  towns — eveything  that 
could  be  done  was  done  and  they  had 
confidently  expected  a  gain  from  last 
year,  in  which  they  were  much  dis- 
appointed for  there  was  a  federal 
gain  in  each  of  the  towns.  Rec'd  a 
letter  from  Capt.  Tobey  at  Wahoo 
dated  Nov.  10  with  1500  bbls.  to  sail 
in  a  few  days  for  a  cruise. 

6th.  Capt.  Clark  in  the  Bark  Eliza- 
beth arrived  this  afternoon  from  the 
Indian  Ocean  with  a  full  cargo  of 
sperm  oil.  He  has  on  board  some 
Madeira  wine  taken  In  at  Madeira 
going  out,  which  he  has  had  on  board 
nearly  two  years — for  account  of 
ourselves  and  W.  T.  Russell. 

7th.  Busily  employed  with  the 
Elizabeth — the  weather  very  fine. 

8th.  W.  R.  Rotch  and  lady  and 
the  Misses  Stockton  left  in  the  Ex- 
periment this  morning  for  New  York 
and  Thos.  A.  Greene  for  Philadelphia 


[  86  ] 


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AGO 


to  attend  the  yearly  meeting.  Re- 
turned and  sailed  again  next  day. 
Francis  Hathaway  left  in  her  on  his 
way  to  Baltimore  to  go  out  supercar- 
go of  the  Florida  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
on  a  trading  voyage.  Put  four  hams 
into  pickle.  Took  tea  at  Nat.  Hath- 
away's. 

9th.  At  Cornelius'  to  tea.  Busily 
employed    discharging    the    Elizabeth. 

10th.  The  Ann  Alexander  arrived 
from  the  Brazil  Banks  with  a  fine 
cargo  of  whale  oil.  The  Wm.  That- 
cher from  New  York.  At  Mr.  W. 
Swain's  tea.  Finished  discharging  the 
Elizabeth. 

11th.  Sunday.  A  gentle  rain  dur- 
ing the  day.  Susan  dined  with  us.  The 
ship  Charley  arrived  from  the  Brazil 
Banks  with  a  full  cargo  of  oil  100  of 
it,  sperm.  Wrote  Francis  Saunders 
Esq.  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  requesting 
him  to  send  me  the  balance  he  owes 
Cousin   Tom    Russell. 

12th.     Rainy   day. 

13th.  Got  an  account  of  the  Eliza- 
beth's cargo.  She  turned  out  1230 
bbls.  Rec'd  a  letter  from  Cousin 
lorn  dated  at  St.  Jago  29  Jan'y.  Mary 
and  Susan  took  tea  with  us. 

14th.  Rec'd  a  letter  from  Capt. 
Lumbard  of  the  Minerva  at  Pernam- 
buco,  6  Feb.  Could  not  find  a  mar- 
ket there  and  was  to  proceed  farther 
south  next  day.  The  ship  Barclay, 
Capt.  Glover,  arrived  from  the  coas.. 
of  California  with  only  1500  bbls,, 
having  been  three  years  this  day  per- 
forming the  voyage.  Set  out  four 
cherry  trees  received  from  Boston. 
Drank   tea   at   Father's. 

15th.  Priscilla  Hunt  at  meeting  to- 
day preached  a  pretty  severe  sermon 
to  the  Old  Lights.  The  overseers 
presented  a  complaint  against  Ben- 
jamin Rodman. 


16th.  Busily  employed  in  dis- 
charging the  Barclay.  Sylvia  Russell 
sick  with  a  bilious  fever. 

17th.  Weather  good,  with  some 
April    showers. 

18th.  Sunday.  The  ship  Wilming- 
ton and  Liverpool  packet,  Capt. 
Briggs,  sailed  for  the  south  for  a 
ireight.  The  ship  Charles,  Capt.  Joy, 
with  her  cargo  of  oil,  sailed  for 
Bremen.  She  did  not  come  to  the 
wharf  on  arrival  from  the  Banks,  but 
discharged  her  sperm  oil  in  the 
stream  and  bought  of  us  the  Barclay's 
whale  oil  to  fill  her  up.  The  Europa 
attempted  to  get  to  sea  for  Lisbon 
with  a  cargo  of  the  Richmond's  oil, 
but  grounded   on  the  Bar. 

19thr  The  Experiment  arrived. 
Thos.  Hathaway  and  Wm.  Swain 
came  in  her.  Nat  and  Anna  spent 
the  evening  with  us. 

20th.  Thomas  Swain  left  this 
morning  for  New  York  to  take  pas- 
sage in  the  Iris  for  London  on  a  tour 
of  pleasure.  Finished  discharging  the 
Barclay  at  breakfast  time.  Dr. 
Read's  daughter  born  this  morning. 
Capt.  Smith  dined  with  us.  Nat  and 
Anna  with  the  girls  and  Warren  took 
tea  with  us.  The  Timoleon  arrived 
in  the  evening  from  the  Banks.  The 
Brig  Hope  with  a  cargo  of  oil  out  of 
the  Ann  Alexander  sailed  for  the 
north   of  Europe. 

21st.  Got  an  account  of  the  Bar- 
clay's cargo.  She  turned  out  1470 
bbls.  sperm  and  73  bbls.  whale  oiL 
Settled  the  voyage  at  38  cents  for 
sperm  and  22  cents  for  the  whale. 
Took  tea  at  Father's. 

22d.  The  Europa,  Capt.  Elisha 
Dunbar,  sailed  for  Lisbon  this  morn- 
ing. Monthly  meeting  day.  Benjamin 
Rodman  was  disowned. 

23d.  The  ship  George  and  Susan, 
Upham,    arrived      from    the    coast    of 


t  87  ] 


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Japan  with  2000  bbls.  sperm  and  200 
of  whale  oil.  Heard  of  the  loss  of 
the  Brig  Nautilus  in  the  straits  of 
Gibraltar. 

24th.  Very  fine  weather.  Busy 
delivering  the   Barclay's   cargo. 

25th.  Sunday.  This  has  been  a 
day  of  unusual  excitement  by  the  ar- 
rival from  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing till  six  in  the  evening  of  the  fol- 
lowing ships,  all  full  of  oil: 

The  Martha  Reed  with    1900   bbls,. 

The  Millwood  Burgess  with  1600 
bbls. 

The  Good  Return  Ferry  with  2400 
Lbls. 

Making  nearly  6000  barrels  of 
whale  oil — also  the  ship  Stanton  Bur- 
teh  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  with  2000 
bbls.  sperm  oil  and  the  Commodore 
Decatur  Tilton,  last  from  Mowhee 
with  1400  bbls.  sperm  oil. 

26th.  Received  letter  by  the  Stan- 
ton from  Pernambuco  mentioning 
that  the  Minerva  had  been  heard 
from  touching  at  Bahai  and  proceed- 
ing to  Rio,  where  she  arrived  on  the 
23d   of   February. 

27th.  Received  a  letter  from  Moses 
at  Rio  the  19th  of  February,  to  sail 
next  day  for  Trieste.  Cornelius  dined 
with  us  on  roast  beef. 

28th.  Rainy  day.  Some  consider- 
able stir  in  town  from  a  black  man, 
Mr.  Lewey,  who  arrived  yesterday 
lrom  New  York,  being  broken  out 
with  Vareoloid  (species  of  the  small 
pox).  The  selectmen  have  had  him 
removed  out  of  town. 

29th.  W.  R.  Rotch's  wife  re- 
turned from  New  York  via  the  steam- 
boat. 

30th-     Cornelius  and  family  left  this 
morning  for  his  farm  at  Potomska. 
May. 

1st.  The  Brig  Indian  Chief  arrived 
from  a  whaling  voyage,  last  from  Rio 


de  Janeiro  where  she  had  sold  her 
whale  oil,  about  500  bbls.  which  she 
has  Invested  in  sugar  and  coffee,  and 
has  also  brought  120  bbls.  sperm  oil. 
Rec'd  letters  by  her  from  Capt.  Lum- 
bard  to  the  13th  March.  He  was  dis- 
charging his  cargo  at  Rio,  and  likely 
to  make  rather  a  slim  voyage.  Took 
tea  at  Nat's.  In  the  evening  called 
with  Nat  at  Nelson's  to  see  Mr.  War- 
ren and  Mr.  Seaver  who  has  come  with 
C.  Warren  from  Taunton. 

2d.  Sunday.  The  ship  Amazon  ar- 
rived from  the  Banks  with  1900  bbls. 
whale  oil — ship  leaky.  Susan,  War- 
ren and  Smith  spent  the  evening  with 
us. 

3d.  own  meeting  day.  Thos.  Rotch 
was  chosen  a  representative  to  the 
General  Court.  The  ship  Triton  ar- 
rived from  the  Pacific  Ocean  with 
only  1100  bbls  .sperm  oil  about  half 
full,  been  gone  33  months — had  lost 
her  captain.  This  is  the  worst  whaling 
voyage  been  made  since  Peace. 

4th.  Wm.  T.  and  Warren  dined 
with  us.     Took  tea  at  Father's. 

5th.  Bottled  114  bottles  of  Madeira 
wine  bought  of  Capt.  Lumbard.  Wrote 
Henry  Grinnell  for  bottles  and  corks. 
Susan  at  tea  with  us. 

6th.  The  ship  Frances,  Capt.  Pad- 
dock, sailed  early  this  morning  for  the 
Pacific  Ocean  on  a  whaling  voyage. 
Took  tea  at  Father's.  In  the  evening 
the  Experiment  arrived  from  New 
York.  Capt.  Grinnell  and  Uncle  Abra- 
ham came  passengers. 

7th.  The  Brig  Elizabeth  Blackmer, 
44  days  from  the  Cape  De  Verdes,  ar- 
rived. Rec'd  letter  this  evening  from 
Capt.  Lumbard  at  Rio.  the  26th 
March,  informing  us  that  he  had  in- 
formation that  flour  was  very  high  at 
Lima  and  Valparaiso  owing  to  their 
crops  of  wheat  being  cut  off  and  that 


[  88  ] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


he  would  sail  in  8  days  for  Lima.  He 
had  purchased  some  flour  from  a  Bal- 
timore ship  to  load  him.  Flour  at 
Lima,  $50;  Valparaiso,  $35  per  barrel. 

8th.  Concluded  to  load  the  Eliza- 
beth with  flour  for  South  America. 
Finished  mending  her  copper.  Two 
new  cases  of  the  small  pox  made  their 
appearance  today.  The  inhabitants 
a  little  alarmed. 

9th.  Sunday.  The  Alliance,  Capt. 
Coffin,  arrived  last  night  full  of  sperm 
oil,  last  from  Valparaiso,  left  25  Jan- 
uary. Catharine  and  myself  went 
down  to  Cornelius'  farm  and  had  some 
good  fun  fishing.  Wm.  Smith  and 
Susan  also  went  down.  They  stayed  all 
night.  The  wind  blew  very  strong 
and  we  had  not  very  good  success. 

10th.  Got  the  Alliance  to  the  wharf 
in  the  afternoon.  Commenced  taking 
in  ballast  in  the  Elizabeth.  Took  tea 
at  Father's. 

11th.  Warren  and  Capt.  Smith 
dined  with  us  on  roast  beef.  Catharine 
spent  the  evening  at  Thos.  Rotch's 
practicing  herself  in  dancing  for  a  ball 
that  is  to  be  given  at  the  Town  Hall. 
I  was  so  tired  that  I  did  not  join  them, 
only  to  accompany  her  home  at  ten 
o'clock,  but  stayed  till  12 — fatigued 
enough. 

12th.  Nat  and  Anna  took  tea  and 
spent  the  evening  with  us. 

13th.  Mary  and  Susan  dined  with 
us.  Had  a  tooth  drawn  this  afternoon. 
Took  some  cold  in  my  jaw  from  which 
I  suffered  most  exceedingly  all  night. 

14th.  The  Brig  Elitus,  Capt.  Almy, 
sailed  for  Amsterdam  with  a  cargo  ot 
whale  oil.  The  ship  Columbus,  Brock, 
with  1800  bbls.  whale  oil  arrived  from 
the  Brazil  Banks.  Joseph  Rotch  went 
to  Boston  as  juryman  to  the  District 
Court.  Wm.  Rotch,  Sr's  wife  died 
very  suddenly  this  afternoon  without 


any  complaint.  Worn  out  by  length 
of  years. 

15th.  Stayed  at  home  all  the  after- 
noon— most  beat  out  with  pain  in  my 
teeth. 

16th.  Sunday.  Suffered  most  ter- 
ribly all  last  night  with  the  head  and 
tooth  ache.  Took  considerable  opium, 
which  made  me  sick  and  confined  me 
to  my  bed  all  day. 

17th.  Took  an  account  of  the  Alli- 
ance's cargo.  She  turned  out  1428  V4 
bbls.  sperm  oil  and  of  the  best  quality 
we  have  ever  had. 

18th.  Jos.  Rotch  and  James  Arnold 
came  up  from  Boston.  The  ship  Par- 
nassus arrived  from  the  Brazil  Banks 
full — 1500  whale,  120  sperm.  At- 
tended the  funeral  of  Elizabeth  Rotch. 
Took  tea  at  Father's.  Cornelius  and 
Betsey  there  from  the  farm. 

19th.  The  owners  of  the  Stranton 
dissatisfied  with  the  conduct  of  Capt. 
Burtch.  Brought  in  an  account  against 
him  of  $4000.  They  agreed  to  leave 
it  to  a  reference.  The  trial  came  on 
this  day  and  took  the  whole  day.  The 
decision  of  the  referees  not  yet  made 
known.  Mrs.  Arnold  and  Elizabeth 
came  from  Boston. 

20th.  Concluded  to  fit  the  Barclay 
for  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  to  give  the 
charge  of  her  to  Capt.  Coffin  who  was 
in  the  Alliance.  Some  spatting  in 
meeting  today.  Abram  Barker  was 
nominated  as  representative  to  the 
monthly  meeting.  Some  objections 
were  made  and  the  conduct  of  Abrarn 
was  pretty  freely  canvassed.  His 
name  was  withdrawn.  Took  tea  at 
Father's. 

21st.  The  Ship  Pacific  arrived 
from  the  Banks  with  2200  bbls.  whale 
oil,  also  the  Herald  with  1400  bbls. 
This  evening  with  Catharine  and  Sus- 
an   attended    the    Public    Ball    at    the 


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BEDFORD 


Town  Hall,  where  about  a  hundred 
persons  were  collected  together.  We 
had  as  pleasant  time  as  could  be  ex- 
pected. We  left  before  one.  Many 
stayed  till  daylight.  The  managers  of 
the  ball  were  Robert  &  John  Smith, 
L.  Washburn,  T.  G.  Coffin  and  Thos. 
Rotch.  The  last  nor  any  of  the  Rotch 
family  attended,  owing  to  the  recent 
death   of  their   grandmother. 

2 2d.  Very  busy  all  day  getting  the 
Elizabeth  ready  for  sea. 

23d. — Sunday.     Attended  the 

Friends  meeting.  We  had  some  ex- 
cellent preaching  from  Eliza  Rotch. 
Mary  Newell  and  Benjamin  Rodman. 
In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Newell  also 
preached.  Job  Otis  denounced  her 
testimony  as  unsound,  and  that  he 
had  no  unity  with  it.  Ben  Rodman 
replied  to  him,  and  gave  him  some 
pretty  severe  remarks.  Mary  dined 
with  us.  Mr.  Swain  and  Nat,  War- 
ren and  Susan  went  down  to  Cornel- 
ius' farm  to  spend  the  day.  Weathes 
very  fine. 

24th.  Finished  a  new  sink  drain  at 
the  house. 

25th.  The  Elizabeth,  Capt.  Clark, 
sailed  this  morning  for  Baltimore, 
also  the  Brig  Indian  Chief,  Nye,  for 
Antwerp  with  a  cargo  of  whale  oil. 

26th.  The  ship  Swift  arrived  from 
the  Pacific  Ocean  full  of  sperm  oil. 
A  large  number  of  persons  from  Nan. 
tucket  and  the  neighboring  towns  in 
town  to  attend  the  consecration  of  the 
Free    Mason's   Lodge   tomorrow. 

27th.  This  has  been  a  grand  holi- 
day. In  the  morning  a  grand  proces- 
sion of  the  Free  Masons  took  place 
from  the  Lodge  to  Mr.  Dewey's  meet- 
ing house,  escorted  by  a  band  of  mu- 
sicians from  Taunton,  consisting  of 
eleven  men.  They  had  an  address  from 
Mr.  Dean  of  Boston,  after  which  the 
officers  of  the  lodge  were  installed.     I 


did  not  succeed  in  getting  into  the 
house.  It  was  entirely  filled  with  la- 
dies, excepting  the  pews  reserved  for 
the  Masons.  One  hundred  and  thirty 
of  them  dined  at  Nelson's.  The  wind 
blew  very  hard  and  the  streets  ex- 
tremely  dusty,  so  they  did  not  march 
through  the  streets  so  much  as  they 
contemplated.  About  midnight  last 
night  we  had  a  serenade  from  the 
Band.  Attended  the  Friends  meeting 
this  morning.  It  was  monthly  meet- 
ing. We  had  a  long  and  a  good  ser- 
mon from  Ben  and  from  Mary  New- 
ell. Debby  had  something  to  say.  She 
got  herself  into  a  hobble  and  made 
pretty  poor  work  of  it.  Mr.  Newell 
replied  to  her  very  handsomely.  Cor- 
nelius, Betsey  and  the  girls  dined  with 
us.  Took  tea  at  Father's.  After  tea 
Capt.  Smith  came  in  and  told  us  they 
were  getting  up  a  little  bit  of  a  dance 
at  the  Hall.  Catharine,  Susan  and 
Wm.  T.  and  self  went;  we  had  a  very 
pleasant  time.  The  music  was  very 
fine.      Got   home   at  twelve. 

28th.  This  evening  rec'd  letters 
from  Moses  at  Gibraltar  the  17th  of 
March,  54  days  from  Rio.  Some 
thunder  and  lightning  with  a  little 
rain  at  sunset.  Mary  and  Susan,  War- 
ren and  Smith  spent  the  evening  with 
us. 

29th.  The  ship  Commodore  Rod- 
gers  Smith  from  the  Brazil  Banks 
with  1900  bbls.  whale  oil  arrived  this 
morning. 

30th. — Sunday.     Attended  the 

Friends  meeting  this  forenoon.  Wo 
had  an  excellent  meeting,  good 
preaching  from  E.  Rotch  and  Mr. 
Newell.  Chas.  Morgan  had  a  few 
words  to  say.  Debby  Otis  gave  us  a 
prayer.  Sam.  Rodman  and  brother 
Cornelius  would  not  rise.  In  the  aft- 
ernoon attended  Mr.  Dewey's  meeting, 
and  in  the  evening  the  New  Light 
friends   held  a   meeting  at  the   Inde- 


[90  ] 


ONE 


HUNDRED 


YEARS 


AGO 


pendent     Tabernacle.       Mary     Rotch, 
Mary  Newell  and  Eliza  Rotch,   had  a 
good  deal  to  say.     We  had  a  very  in- 
teresting meeting  indeed. 
31st.     Nothing. 

June. 

1st.  Mary  Newell  left  this  morn- 
ing for  Lynn.  A  very  pleasant  day. 
Capt.   Smith  dined  with   us. 

2d.  The  Wm.  Rotch,  Capt.  Tobey, 
arrived  full  of  sperm  oil  this  after- 
noon. 

3d.  Rainy  day.  Got  the  Wm. 
Rotch  to  the  wharf,  Cornelius  and 
the  girls  dined  with  us. 

4th.  More  rainy  weather.  The 
ship  Midas,  Capt.  Spooner,  from  the 
Banks  with  2100  bbls.  of  oil,  85  of  it 
sperm,  arrived  this  afternoon. 

5th.  Forenoon  rainy.  Cleared  away 
pleasantly  at  noon.  Took  tea  at 
Father's. 

6th.  Sunday.  The  Ships  Rich- 
mond and  Ann  Alexander  sailed  for 
the  Brazil  Banks  and  the  ship  Com. 
Decatur  for  Marseilles  with  a  cargo 
of  whale  oil.  The  ships  Victory 
Adams  with  1200  bbls.  and  the  Geo. 
and  Martha  Chase  with  1000  bbls. 
whale  oil  arrived  from  the  Banks, 
both  very  bad  voyages,.  The  Brig 
Resident  Stoddard  from  Rio  also  ar- 
rived with  some  hides,  sugar  and 
coffee  sent  us  by  Capt.  Lumbard,  be- 


ing the  surplus  of  sales  he  made  at 
Rio,  and  the  purchase  of  flour  to 
take  to  Lima.  He  sailed  from  Rio 
the  8th  of  April  for  Lima. 

7th.  The  ship  Portia  Ray  with 
1400  bbls.  arrived  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean;  commenced  discharging  the 
Wm.   Rotch.     A  very  warm   day. 

8th.  Much  troubled  with  the  tooth 
ache.  Thos.  Green  and  wife  with 
Robert  Smith  and  wife  took  tea  with 
us. 

9th.  John  Thornton  here  from 
Nantucket.     He  intends  taking 

charge  of  the  North   free  school. 

10th.  John  Thornton  dined  with 
us.  The  Experiment  arrived  from 
New  York.  Hetty  Hussey  came  in 
her. 

11th-  Matthew  Barker  and  wife 
came  off  from  Nantucket. 

12th.  Got  an  account  of  the  Wm. 
Rotch's  cargo.  Say  1810  bbls.  sperm 
oil,  28  per  cent,  of  it  head.  Capt. 
Smith  and  Susan  went  down  to  Cor- 
nelius* farm. 

13th.  Sunday.  Warren  dined  with 
us.  Anna  Parry  came  from  Philadel- 
phia  by   the    steamboat    line. 

14th.  Joseph  Rotch's  lady  present- 
ed him  with  another  daughter  this 
afternoon  at  5  o'clock.  Spent  the 
evening  at   Nat's. 


FINIS. 


[  91 


100   YEARS    AGO 

Was  first  printed  in  The  Morning  Mercury 
in  February,  1922 
The  linotype  used  in  this  book  was  loaned 
by  the 

MERCURY    PUBLISHING   CO. 
and  made  this  edition  possible. 


Printer  and  Publisher. 


F 

A6> 


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\jniversi 
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